HI. *splats into dogeza* I send nine zillion apologies for the lateness of this. I've had a lot of life going on – exams, recital, sempais' grad parties, etc…. and then I finally finish this and my computer decides to say "forget formatting, I like cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese~" and makes me redo everything I wrote today, plus my clicker is being a jerk, so… yes. I am VERY VERY VERY sorry!
I don't own Skip Beat, but I hope you enjoy this anyway!
Ren awoke from a series of exceptionally pleasant dreams with a plan in mind. It was something of a brash, foolish plan, yes, but it was a plan nonetheless - and he did not have much time. Somehow, in the next three days, he had to coordinate enough time with Kyoko in order to explain himself as best he could. Though it pained him to admit it, he had no other choice. Yashiro was the best for a reason. There ought to be some way to utilize the man's talents without admitting why he'd need such a large chunk of time on such short notice, but for the life of him he could not think of one.
Thus, it was with careful timing that Ren voiced his request to his manager when the pair was in full view - but not earshot - of the public. Yashiro, he knew, would not risk the oh-so-carefully constructed image of Tsuruga Ren for the sake of prying about Kyoko. Yes, he would want to, but he would not… and so, Ren asked while he parked his car.
"Is there any way that you could arrange an evening off for me within the next," he paused, doing some mental calculations, "two days, one that also works for Kyoko?"
If he had not been the subject of his manager's violently suppressed emotion, Ren would have found the near-volcanic expression on Yashiro's face amusing; as he was, however, he did not. The elder man swallowed. "With difficulty, but might I know why?"
"I have something that I need to tell her - and I've got a time limit." To avoid an explosion, he added, "I'll need to explain some things to you, too, but she has a greater claim to this information. After all, part of it is her story, too." Leaving his manager suitably confused, he opened the door and walked off towards the building for his next job, not noticing that the crowd around the front doors was much more subdued than usual.
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~
Kyoko awoke to a rope of raven locks slithering its way down her face and the shifting warmth of a body next to her. After a brief moment of panic, she remembered where she was and sat up with a smile, moving slowly so as to not disturb her best friend. Waking up next to someone - whether that someone was a little sister or a best friend - made her life feel a little less lonely… not that she was lonely that much anymore, she realized. Since becoming part of LME's crazy world of entertainment, so many people had come into her life that she was scarcely ever alone. With this pleasant notion in mind, she finished disentangling herself from her lightly snoring best friend and padded out to the kitchen to make breakfast. Kanae rolled onto her other side and continued sleeping, curled under the blankets as if to protest the lack of warmth.
Kanae's refrigerator, Kyoko was pleased to discover, was much better-stocked than Ren's - not that that was a difficult feat. Its contents were almost exclusively healthy food, though there were some sweet tidbits, one of which had a note from her older brother attached, stating that the family had taken the liberty of re-stocking her fridge while she'd been gone, and admonishing her to come visit more often. The first LoveME girl bit back a giggle as she tucked the note away and fished out the ingredients she'd need for breakfast.
A song popped into her mind and slipped through her closed lips, filling the room with a soft, off-key hum. Her whisk blended with the notes, creating an odd accompaniment. The cracking eggshells and chopping vegetables were her bass section. Yes, a western-style breakfast would work nicely - vegetables chopped up in an omelet. She would've liked to have topped it off with cheese (the string section of her orchestra), but none existed in Kanae's fridge.
Onions and leeks performed a tap dance in Kanae's mind; or, at least, they had been until she'd questioned their ability to tap-dance without legs. They were now lying on a countertop, lamenting their lack of legs with sizzling sounds emitted by their equally nonexistent mouths. The girl blinked; the vegetables were replaced by her ceiling, but the sizzling sounds did not cease. She sat up, blinking sleep out of her eyes as the events of the previous day settled into place in her mind. Right, she yawned, sleepover. Sap. Kyoko.
"Moookooo!" sang the girl in question, bouncing into the room. "Breakfast is ready! I made a veggie omelet for us to split!"
Kanae's neck cracked as the girl stood and stretched. "Thanks, but you didn't have to do that. I could've made something for us."
"Yes, but I wanted to cook for Moko since I woke up first! Besides," she added, her smile becoming a tad less exuberant, "you listened to my rant yesterday and helped me figure out what was going on! It was the least I could do to thank you for helping me get my head on straight!"
"Yeah, yeah." The elder girl waved these words away (for they had, of course, manifested in the form of flying, vibrant, sparkling hearts) with a flick of her hand. "Since you cooked, let's dig in. Then we should get dressed and head over to LME by bike. Sound good?"
"Yes! It'll be great to ride together!"
"Where do you get all that energy so early in the morning?" Kanae yawned, wandering out to the kitchen and untwining her hair, allowing it to fall in damp waves down her back.
Kyoko shrugged and plopped down at the table, beaming as her best friend joined her, and then raised an extremely ugly but absolutely beautiful fish-shaped mug in a toast.
"Itadakimasu!"
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~
"Good work, everyone! That's it for today's shoot! Remember that we're meeting at the park for the location shoot next Friday!" Having called this to all the workers, the head photographer packed up his camera and wandered away to drink an apple juice box (or mango, if he could find one), leaving everyone else to clean up the general area and get on with their mornings. Ren, for his part, went about his motions in something of a daze, having been reminded of a certain near-fae by the word "park." Yashiro, after steering his charge back to his dressing room and shutting the door, permitted an evil smirk to creep across his face.
"A bit distracted, are we, loverboy?"
Ren blinked. "What?"
"You only board satellites like that when something reminds you of Kyoko-chan."
"Excuse me, but I've never been to space in my life," he retorted as he began changing.
"Really?" Yashiro quirked an eyebrow. "Then why are you always spacing out?"
"What?"
"Come now, don't be so Sirius! I'm not dogging a big star like you that much, am I?" Yashiro chuckled. "Oh, and about the evening you wanted with Kyoko-chan -"
"Yes?"
"Don't worry, I'll planet for you, but I can't book you a room on the moon - it's full."
"Yashiro-" Ren growled, realizing what his manager was doing.
"What?" the more fiendish of the two snickered. "All I was wondering was when you're going to make Kyoko like Saturn - you know, put a ring on her."
"Yashiro, I'm not in the mood for your puns."
"Comet me, then!" Yashiro laughed, ducking the shirt Ren tossed at his face.
"Tsuruga-san." A wild Sebastian had appeared at Yashiro's shoulder, startling the manager cutting off the dialogue as effectively as if he had used scissors. "The president requests your presence at your soonest convenience."
Ren shook his head to clear it of orbiting space puns. "Of course. I'll be up as soon as I can."
"I am to escort you." Sebastian bowed and stepped outside of the room, his oddly sedate outfit rustling. "I shall await you in the hall."
"Thanks." As the door swung shut behind Sebastian, Ren looked at his manager. "Time?"
"Yes, there should be enough time to squeeze in a quick meeting with the president, but you're going to be running ragged until you see Kyoko-chan tomorrow evening."
"Tomorrow?" he echoed, his movements slowing. I need to tell her. How? How should I start?
"Yes, tomorrow!" Yashiro exclaimed in exasperation. "You asked me to find a time within the next two days, and since you asked this morning, I assumed that that included today!"
"Ah, yes… right. Right. That is what I meant."
"Then snap out of it and get dressed. You've got a meeting with the resident Lovemon."
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~
"Moko, why is everyone whispering so much?" Kyoko wondered as the pair rode past the front entrance of LME and towards the newly-installed and utterly garish LoveME entrance. Honestly, it was if the president had overstocked on glittering orange paint (this was false, as the man in question was merely trying to increase the love for what had, at one point, been voted the most hated color for decorating).
"How should I know? I've been abroad." Kanae rolled her eyes as they locked their bikes to the glow-in-the-dark-green, heart-shaped bike rack with which Lory had provided them. "Let's hurry, it's going to rain."
"Okay!" Kyoko grinned and followed her best friend into the building.
"By the way," Kanae said as they changed into their LoveME uniforms, "don't you have school today?"
"Hmm? No, we've got today off for special teacher meetings."
"Lucky for you, then," she yawned. "Mo, I'm tired."
"I'm sorry, Moko! Did I keep you up too late?" She let out a gasp of horror. "Oh, no! And right after you got home! I -"
"Shush." Kanae smacked her hand across Kyoko's jabbering mouth. "It's fine. The sleepover was my idea anyway."
The door to the LoveME room swung open, admitting Chiori. "Hey, did you hear - what happened this time?"
"Nothing of importance," Kanae replied, releasing the now-calmer Kyoko. "What were you going to say?"
"I was just wondering if you'd heard the buzz - it's all over the news."
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~
The ride up to Lory's office was as eventful as ever. Today there was a small bird - brown, but with an earth-toned peacock-type tail - perched on the elevator's rail. It stared at them as they entered, as if it were somehow aware of the buzz outside of LME's walls. Sebastian motioned to the bird; it tilted its head but otherwise did not move.
"I wonder what the president wants to talk to you about," Yashiro said into the silence.
"...about."
Ren shrugged. "I've got an idea." Mom and Dad, probably.
"...idea."
Sebastian coughed; instants later, a coughing sound echoed in the elevator.
"What is that?" Yashiro muttered.
"...that."
Sebastian indicated the bird before explaining (as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore knows all), "The lyrebird can mimic a wide variety of sounds. This one - Lorenzo - enjoys riding in elevators and bothering passengers."
"...passengers."
"I see."
"...tundra."
Before Yashiro had sufficient time to react to this play on words (icy tundra, naturally), the elevator doors slid open, admitting them to Lory's floor. Sebastian permitted the other two men to lead the way, slipped a cracker to Lorenzo (as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore understands and appreciates wordplay, however pathetic), and then followed.
The doors swung open; a blast of heat swamped over the trio. The room was darker than usual, but had undertones of deep red light running throughout, giving off an overall effect of being inside a hollow chocolate-raspberry cake. Ren blinked, the utter lack of over-stimulation snapping him out of his reverie; when he re-focused his eyes, he was met with the sight of a smirking Lory clad in something that could only be described as black in color and earthy in texture. He was still trying to decipher what the president was wearing when Maria burst through a hidden door in a swirl of fiery chaos, the colors on her dress glowing in the dull lighting. Lory, it was plain to see, had indulged her wish to become fire… and to match, he had become a fancy lump of that which Santa Claus gives to poorly behaved children. For the sake of his sanity, Ren elected to ignore the latter part of this fact.
Maria plowed into Ren with all the force of an angry labradoodle. "Ren-sama! It's terrible!"
"What's wrong?" he inquired, lifting her.
"Your portrait-taker turned traitor! Pictures of you and onee-san are all over the news!" She pouted, then added with venom, "And she isn't even here yet!"
"I - what?" Ren shot an appealing look at Lory, begging for more information.
"It's really quite simple," the great tzar of coal explained, linking his fingers together and resting his chin on them as he spoke. "The stuttering photographer whom you had take the 'royal portraits' on your date with Mogami-kun decided that it would be more to his advantage to sell copies of the portraits to the media than to keep them under wraps. He has since used the money he gained to retire to Hokkaido, where he shall pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a potato farmer. I'm sorry, Ren. I know that you were trying to be discreet, but the photographer released your name with the photos."
"Did he release Kyoko's?" he inquired, setting Maria on the floor; she hurried off to check if Kyoko had arrived yet. My career can probably withstand this, but I'm not sure how it would affect hers.
"No."
"Thank God," he sighed, slightly relieved. "So what actions do you suggest we follow?"
"Yukihito-kun will have to do some damage control, of course." The manager nodded in agreement. "Mostly, however, you'll just have to keep being professional. A few rumors can't really hurt your reputation, but if you wish we can arrange an interview - but you'd best have a good explanation. I suggest keeping everything quiet unless Mogami-kun's name gets out… and next time, make sure that your disguise is better. People would've recognized you even if your name hadn't been released."
"Yes, sir." Ren bowed. "I'm sorry about the trouble."
"As well you should be, you brat. I understand wanting to spoil her a little, but doing something so publicly was over-the-top. Especially those outfits - your cravat was nearly as fancy as my prized one! And you'd do it again, wouldn't you?" The great tzar of coal snorted when Ren looked off to the side, shame etched in every crevice of his face. "And stop pretending to be ashamed of yourself. We both know that you regret nothing."
Ren gave a sheepish smile. "You know me too well, president."
"You really expected anything less?" Lory snickered before turning his attention to the manager. "Now, Yukihito-kun, you have some work to do on damage control. Go start that while I discuss one last thing with Ren."
"Right away." Yashiro bowed and took his leave, only a bit disappointed that he might miss further teasing of Ren.
"I received a call at an ungodly hour last night," Lory began, examining his fingernails with detachment. "Two shrieking voices babbling some gibberish about a baby boy finally coming to his senses. Care to explain?"
"I called them last night." This statement, simple as it was, had a profound effect on Lory, who sat up and ceased his fingernail inspection.
"You called them? Not the other way around?"
"Yeah," Ren confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I finally got my courage up enough to do it."
"And exactly how much is this stunning development due to Mogami-kun?"
"Indirectly or directly?" Ren inquired, moving to his left to let Natsuko through to her coal-clad master.
"I know that indirectly, it's all her doing. I'm wondering more about directly." Lory shifted in his seat, permitting Natsuko to slither onto his lap and around his shoulders.
"I…" Ren paused, biting his lip. "I don't know. I don't think that she knows the whole story about my parents, so it wasn't anything she said directly." It was just a mixture of who she is and what the chicken said, he mused, unaware that Kyoko and the chicken were one and the same.
Natsuko's tongue flicked across Lory's cheek, reminding him to ask, "When can I expect them to arrive?"
"They said last night that they'd be here in three days, so… two days, now."
Lory rolled his eyes and began petting his precious snake. "As expected of them."
Ren steeled himself, then informed his godfather, "I've decided to tell Kyoko."
"Good. She'll be happy to see her 'father' again." Natsuko hissed her approval of Lory's stroking.
"No - I mean -" Ren cleared his throat. "I - I'm going to tell her. About Kuon, about Mom and Dad, about… about the past. I want to be the one to tell her, rather than having her find out some other way. She might never speak to me again - she might hate me, but I need her… I need her to hear it from me."
Lory linked his fingers together and rested his chin on them, observing Ren for a few moments before speaking. "I'm proud of you, Kuon."
"Thank you, president." He ducked his head.
"Also, I think that by now, it's pretty much impossible for her to hate you, regardless of what you do, so don't worry about that." Natsuko nodded, giving Ren a serpentine smile.
"I hope you're right."
"I have information from a reliable source, so no worries." The elder man grinned. "Just try to make sure she doesn't misinterpret what you say. Now scram, you brat."
Ren laughed. "Thanks." He walked towards the door, then paused. "By the way, boss… do you know of any American anime that uses 'boop' as a code word?"
As soon as these words had left his mouth, the snake on Lory's shoulders gave a violent spasm of excitement and began hissing in Lory's ear. The president of LME, of course, under-reacted to such odd phenomena, merely raising his eyebrows and nodding instead of jumping, startling, or doing anything a sane person might do if her or his shoulder snake suddenly spasmed (ah, abounding alliteration (and assonance), an authoress's adoration amasses about thee). As the snake's speech (as Lory is Lory and therefore has both the technology and love necessary to understand an anaconda) continued, however, a grin began to slide across his face.
"That, my boy, would be something called RWBY."
"Ruby? The gemstone?"
"Nope - R-W-B-Y. Honestly, you should know these things; it's going to be a drama soon. I suggest that you watch it tonight once you're off work - it shouldn't take long - and then I think that you'd find the second season's soundtrack particularly enjoyable. I did." With another Cheshire grin (despite being coal and not a cat that particular day) and a lofty wave of his hand, the president dismissed Japan's top actor.
Ren sighed, wondering if he really wanted to know what 'boop' meant if it made his godfather grin like that.
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~
Kyoko stared at Chiori with an expression of horrified disbelief; Chiori observed her LoveME sempai with concerned curiosity; and Kanae watched the pair with detached amusement. (The reader should take a moment here to remember what horrible truth of photographic treachery has just been revealed for the previous sentence to make any semblance of sense.) Then, like the crust on an over-baked pie, Kyoko crumbled to the ground.
"B-But why?" She gave a hiccup. "Why would photographer-san do such a horrible thing with the royal portraits?"
"Royal portraits?" Chiori mouthed to Kanae, who shook her head.
"Simple," she said instead, squatting down next to her best friend. "He did it for the money. I mean, Tsuruga used his name to reserve the time, right? And it's not like you ever hear anything about his personal life in the media - especially not anything so freaking romantic. There's no way anyone would let such a good opportunity slip through their fingers."
Let it be a point to Kyoko's credit that she did not protest the word 'romantic.' "I… I suppose…."
"Wait," Chiori interrupted, shaking her head and holding up her hands. "I am misunderstanding something, or was the girl you, sempai?" When Kyoko nodded, Chiori let out a low whistle. "I didn't even recognize you in that get-up!"
Something dull thudded in Kyoko's stomach. "You didn't?"
"No! You look so different, miss eternal butterfly." She rummaged in her bag and extracted a magazine, flipping to the main story. "I mean - just look! I don't think that you have to worry about being recognized. Right now people just know you as Tsuruga-san's mystery princess."
"Oh fluffernutters…." Kyoko breathed, staring at the pictures. Those are so intimate! How did I not panic? Even la-la land narcotics aren't that strong… wait… that mirror…! "Why is the magic mirror in here? That wasn't even part of the shoot!"
Kanae, who had been looking at the picture of Kyoko looking at Ren upside-down as he kissed her nose (for she had been, at that point, standing in front of him), shifted her gaze to the mirror photograph. In it, Ren had his arms looped around Kyoko's waist from behind; he was beaming at her in the mirror as she looked off to the side, a blush powdering her cheeks. "What the…?"
"H-He had me say the spell like Snow White's stepmother, but it didn't work, and then he was saying that it did, and -"
"Actually, just stop there." Kanae touching her hand to Kyoko's mouth again. "I get it."
"Just for clarification, sempai," Chiori inquired as she turned the page to reveal more photographs and the text of the article, "how long have you two been dating? You and Tsuruga-san, I mean. It's pretty obvious that you two are mad about each other, even without these pictures."
"We're not! I mean, I think that was one, but I don't know, not really, and - um…."
The stuttering girl's best friend had ceased to listen. "Hey, this one's not from the portrait place, either. Looks like it was shot through the windshield of his car."
"Yeah, it does - d'you think they followed her?" Chiori inquired; Kyoko gave a small whimper. "What were you two talking about to get that expression, Kyoko-sempai?"
"He… we… um, the kingdoms in the faerie realm… C-Cor Meum and Cor Tuum."
Chiori furrowed her brow, tilting her head to the side. "Cor… isn't that Latin for 'heart'?"
Kyoko's head snapped up as Kanae nodded, realizing. "Yeah - so, 'my heart' and 'your heart,' right? Mo, he's cheesy."
"I know. It's something straight out of a shojo manga - and a sappy one, at that." She rolled her eyes. "Oh - b-but in a good way! Sorry, sempai."
"Wait, kingdoms?" Kanae quirked an eyebrow. "Don't tell me that he had you as the ruler of his heart."
"He crowned me, actually." Kyoko blinked. I told him that he could watch over the other kingdom - that he could watch over my heart. And he… he said that I had supreme reign over his heart. "I-I didn't realize at… at the time what it meant."
"Of course you didn't. You wouldn't be our Kyoko-sempai if you had!" Chiori grinned. "I never knew that he was such a romantic. Seriously, look at this set - it looks like something right out of a fairytale." She pointed at the background of the picture where Ren was holding Kyoko as she leaned over an artificial stream, playing with the water faeries. Kyoko - who was of course by this time a beautiful sunset red and clashing spectacularly with her LoveME uniform - made attempts to close the magazine, but her two comrades in pink did not allow that to happen.
"What's up with this one? It's just you two holding hands." Kanae tilted her head to one side.
Kyoko shook her head, eyes closed. "No…."
"Oh, wait, I think I get it! Like an engagement pic, right?" Chiori grinned when Kyoko's sunset grew darker. "So your characters were engaged? That makes sense, I guess, with the royal getups."
The girl in question let out a cry of despair, snatched the magazine from the others' hands, and hid in a corner of the room. Kanae and Chiori exchanged a glance, inquiring silently what they ought to do now.
Kyoko, meanwhile, was mulling over everything in her mind - and, of course, twisting it in ways so that she blamed herself for the news getting out. (The authoress would like the readers to note that the photographer stuttered as much as a certain turbaned professor, but mentioning that fact to Kyoko would only add to her despair and I-ought-to-have-known thinking.) I should never have accepted his offer. This is going to hurt his career! A huge percentage of his fan base is female… what are they going to do when they see him out and about with another girl? This is all my fault…. A slamming sound interrupted her self-deprecating monologue; the door burst open to reveal a highly irritated Maria.
"Onee-san, why didn't you tell me you and Ren-sama were official?"
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~
Ren was trying his best to drive the speed limit, but the driver in front of him was making this task difficult, as the humanoid in question was driving approximately fifteen miles per hour. He let out a low growl; Yashiro shifted in the passenger seat, thinking about how best to phrase his question.
"Ren, do you mind my asking you something?"
"No." His gritted teeth suggested otherwise, but Yashiro went on regardless.
"Why haven't you tried passing in the open lane to our right?"
"...Because I am an idiot," he sighed, then pulled around the slow-moving vehicle and increased his speed.
"Too busy thinking about the new predicament?"
A bark of a laugh escaped Ren's lips. "Which one?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do you mean?" If he doesn't know the full extent, then I'm not going to give him more information just yet.
"Well, I doubt that Kyoko-chan will react well to the new publicity. I thought you were worrying about how you were going to coax her out of the tizzy she's likely to have worked herself into by the next time you see or speak to her." He adjusted his glasses, which had been traitorously slipping down his nose. "Knowing her, Kyoko-chan is going to find some way to blame herself for this mess."
"True," he sighed, pulling into the studio's parking structure. "At least her name didn't get spread everywhere."
Yashiro nodded. "I'd hate to see what your fans would do to her."
"What?" Ren's brow furrowed as he pulled into a parking hole.
"You have some crazy fans, my friend. I'm afraid that they might hurt her if they thought she was stealing you away." After glancing at Ren, he added, "And judging by your expression, I'm guessing that this hadn't occurred to you before now."
The actor shook his head as he clambered out of his car. "What are we going to do?"
"I'm doing the best damage control I can, LME isn't answering any questions - and you need to figure out with Kyoko-chan what you're going to tell the public when an interview becomes unavoidable. Speaking of which," he noted, flipping through their schedule, "you've got the one that was supposed to be on the day of your date re-scheduled for tomorrow morning, so think quickly about how you're going to deal with that."
"Right," he said, feeling a bit dizzy as they began walking to the new set. "I'll talk to Kyoko-chan tonight. That should give me a reason to invite her over."
"Sorry, but having her over will have to be tomorrow night - both of you are working late tonight. You've got that meeting with your new director and she's got some on-location scenes for "Box 'R'" at a haunted house."
"How do you know this?" And why do you know it before I do?
"I've been managing both of you for a while now to make sure you eat occasionally. Do try to keep up, Ren." He pushed the button of the elevator with his elbow, not wanting to risk the button's destruction by his hands. "You'll probably have enough time to call her, though."
"Right." Ren exhaled, pushing his fingers through his hair, suddenly very tired. Maybe I'll flip through those pictures of Kyoko again on my break to get my energy back up. That ought to help, even if pictures were what started this whole fiasco. "I'll do that, then."
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~
"Maria-chan, you've got to believe me! We're not official! Those pictures were from the day I told you about!" Kyoko begged her little sister, eyes wide and pleading.
"You were taking royal portraits together! How is that not official?" Maria wailed, hurt by the omission. "You of all people know what it means when faerie rulers take portraits, onee-san!"
"I - it wasn't like that! That's only if both parties know the implications of the portraits! Besides, it's not like that would ever happen!"
Chiori glanced at Kanae, saw that the second LoveME member looked equally confused, and then jerked her head towards the door, indicating that the two of them ought to try to escape. Kanae nodded, but motioned that they would need to move with extreme caution. Chiori, after taking a moment to decipher Kanae's obscure hand gestures, nodded.
"Onee-san," Maria grated. "That's a lie and you know it! If you're taking Ren-sama away from me, at least be honest about it!"
"But - I - I'm not! I'm not taking Ren anywhere!" She was gesturing wildly; one of her flailing hands came within inches of smacking Chiori's nose as the second and third LoveME members slunk along the wall in their poorly-planned escape attempt. "He's much too big for me to carry anywhere!"
Maria paused for a moment, considering this. "Okay, fair enough. Ren-sama's shoes are enormous. He doesn't even fit in ordinary house slippers!"
While Kanae was able to hide her amusement, Chiori let out a highly undignified snort. Kyoko, noticing their new position near the door, raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?"
Kanae shot a glare at the third LoveME member before improvising. "We were going to get some coffee from the vending machine. Do you want anything?"
"Milk, please!" Maria chimed, temporarily distracted. "The pink can with white polka dots!"
"Is there really that much difference between that and other types of vending machine milk?" Chiori inquired, confused.
"Yes," Kyoko and Maria harmonized, slightly insulted.
"That one's richer than the others!" Maria insisted.
"And much cheaper than the others!" Kyoko added. "So it's really much better than the other types. I'd like one, too, please, Moko."
"Mo, whatever. Two pink-and-white milks. We'll be back in a bit." With that, the second and third LoveME members departed, shutting the door behind them.
Kyoko blinked. "What were we talking about?"
"Um… Ren-sama! We were talking about how you and Ren-sama are finally, finally official after being coo-coo-clock crazy for each other since Dark Moon!"
"What? No!" How did she know that that was when I was stupid enough to begin to fall?
"Yeah!" Maria nodded. "Cuz that was when Ren-sama started looking at you all soft-eyed when he thought that no one was looking."
"He - what?" She blinked. Sure, Moko had said something to the same effect, but for Maria to agree with her…!
"Well, it wasn't toooo obvious at first, but then Grandpa accidentally let a little something slip. I didn't like it at first, but I think that you're a better match for him than I would be, so I'm fine with it now."
"Then why did you yell at me?" Kyoko pouted.
"Because you didn't trust me enough to tell me that you're official!"
"But we're not! There's no way I'd have a chance with him, Maria-chan!"
"Then how do you explain your date? He spoiled you way too much for it to be just as friends!"
"I don't know, okay?" Kyoko cried out, pushing her hands through her hair in frustration. "It doesn't make any sense to me! I just - how can I be so foolish?"
Maria's voice was suddenly small, wary. "Huh?" I've gone too far, haven't I?
"I've only just gotten back to the point where I can love myself, love my friends, even love something of a family - how can I be so stupid to go and fall in love again? Why don't I learn not to - why can't I seem to get it through to my heart that romantic love only ends in heartbreak, in being left alone again?" She let out a low whimper. "I'm just so confused, Maria-chan."
"Um…" Maria paused, understandably flustered. No matter how mature she might act, she was still in primary school. This situation was way beyond her area of expertise. "B-But you won't be left alone. We're all still here-"
"Milk delivery!" The door swung open, revealing a deadpan Kanae and a still-snickering Chiori. Kyoko's head whipped up to look at them, but then had no reaction when Chiori balanced the can of milk on her head.
"See? We'll be here no matter what," Maria said, glad to have proven her point. "Right, Moko?"
Kanae rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her coffee. "Duh."
"Yup!" Chiori affirmed around further laughter.
Kyoko laughed, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes but not falling (even if the milk can on her head did). "Thanks."
"Yes, thank you for the milk!"
"That's not what - oh, never mind." Kyoko beamed at her friends and little sister as she picked up her can of milk. "Itadaki-milk-su!"
Kanae whapped her with the nearest LoveME sofa parasite.
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~
Ren, exhausted from dodging questions about the photographs in the media (honestly, how had everyone already seen them?), collapsed in his dressing room. The director had called for a fifteen-minute break after several rough hours of filming - rough due to the focus on things other than work, of course. Thus, Japan's top male actor was more than happy to escape everyone else's presence for a little while. He couldn't call Kyoko, of course - she was no doubt buried in work by now (over at LME, Kyoko would be dealing with a hyperactive kitten and its finicky owner for the remainder of the morning) - so he resorted to the next best option: the photographs of Kyoko that Kotonami-san had sent to him the previous night.
I wish I could see her now. I wonder what she's doing. (At the moment, Kyoko was struggling to keep a kitten from crawling down the front of her LoveME uniform.)
Or even just hear her voice. ("Stop - no - kitty, please no!")
He sighed and clicked the button that would reveal the pictures of Kyoko. As he flipped through them, his stress began to melt away. A smile slipped across his face at her variety of expressions - she never seemed to make the same one twice. The pictures flicked through his vision, burning into his eyes and heart; he reached the final one of his beloved cuddled up to her best friend and made to close his phone.
...Wait. What was that?
His brow furrowed as he flipped back to the popcorn-puppy-eyes picture. Something was nagging at the corners of his mind, almost as if he was missing something important, something vital, something - he squinted at the background, trying his hardest not to be distracted by Kyoko's expression. If he zoomed in a little, he could almost make out the image on the screen behind her… why did it look so familiar? He blinked and zoomed in more as a knock sounded on his door. Yashiro entered the room, announced that Ren's break was up, and wisely did not ask why the actor appeared to be as dazed as if he'd been knocked on the head by the club of a mountain troll.
She knows.
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~
Several hours later, Kyoko unleashed a great sigh of relief when she was finally able to part ways with the adorable but admittedly insane kitten and its overbearing master. She loved animals, true, but even she had her limits. A quick glance at the clock informed her that she had just enough time to transform into Natsu before pedaling to the studio, from where they would ride a company bus to the shoot location - today, a haunted house. Deciding to slip into character a bit early, she closed her eyes, shifted her stance, and slipped into the Kyoko meeting room.
You're up, Nacchan. Try not to offend anyone important to me, okay?
Natsu slipped into the metaphorical pilot's seat and made the body smirk. No promises… not that you expected anything less of me, dearest mystery girl.
Nacchan, don't. Don't tease me about that now. We've got to get ready for work.
Fine, fine. To the LoveME room to change, then. This uniform offends every sense I have.
I'm not a fan, either, but it's something we've got to deal with.
Natsu sighed, straightened, and sashayed down to the LoveME room to change. She passed Sawara on the way there, to whom she gave a greeting and a dignified bow; when she continued her journey, he paused for a moment, attempting to place what was so different about her – only to decide that the girl was calm, for once, before continuing his journey.
A ringing noise filled the hallway for what must have been the twelfth time since she had parted ways with Kanae and Chiori. After a quick glance at the caller ID, Natsu smirked and continued walking. A call for you, boss, from Mr. Unknown Number. Do I get to play with him? I'm sure I could bring him to the brink of tears with - oh, I don't know - five sentences. What do you think?
Inside the Kyoko meeting room, the grudges let out a cheer and began begging the boss Kyoko to let Natsu destroy that bastard. Kyoko sighed. No, Nacchan. We still don't have that information, for the loophole you pointed out, so we have to wait.
Fine. Natsu pouted and pushed open the door to the LoveME room. "Ah, Yumika. Are you ready to go?"
Chiori looked up from her desk, blinking. Her LoveME sempai didn't usually switch this early. "Just let me change out of this monstrosity."
"Obviously," the other girl replied with a laugh, already unzipping as she strolled to the locker rooms. "As if we'd ever let ourselves be seen in such things!"
A laugh escaped from Chiori's lips as she transitioned to Yumika. Natsu was in peak form today - this was going to be fun. "Any plans for the haunted house, Nastu?" The gleam in her eyes was all the answer Chiori needed. Today would be a fun day indeed.
Kyoko's phone went off again; it was ignored as the girls got ready and Natsu regaled Yumika with plans of cruelty.
~~~~~~~LINE~~~~~~~~
Shotaro let out a low growl as he slouched down a hallway. He had seen it - of course he had, it was all over the media - but unlike the rest, he knew all too well who the mystery girl was. Who else could it be, to indulge in such fantasies at this age - and, though he was loath to even think it, for whom else would Tsuruga do such a thing? The girl had to be Kyoko; there was just no other option. And to think that she'd agreed to this after making the promise to him…! He had her, he knew - now if he could only get ahold of her to cash in on it…if only she would pick up her phone!
"Damn it, Kyoko, pick up! If you're going to do something that blatant, at least be willing to own up to it!" He hit 'end call' with unwonted venom before hearing a noise at the end of the hall; he glanced up and gave a lazy grin. Two rather attractive girls stood at the end of the hallway, both in high school uniforms - and one of them was staring straight at him. He strolled towards them, taking his time; they neither advanced nor retreated. The girl who had been observing him said something to her friend in a low voice, never dropping eye contact with Sho. He smirked; she quirked an eyebrow.
"What brings a pair of girls like you to a place like this?"
"Work," the girl's friend said idly, examining her nails. She glanced up at her friend, who motioned for her to continue. "We're waiting for the rest of the cast to finish getting ready so we can leave."
"Oh? Where to?" He leaned against the wall next to the silent girl, striking a pose that said girl had seen only too many times before. "The karaoke box? The shopping mall? A school?"
The dark-haired girl glanced at her friend again, as if looking for permission; the silent girl ran a highly decorated nail down her own cheek as she nodded. The dark-haired girl smirked. "No, that's far too dull. We're going someplace far more interesting." She gave a fiendish little giggle. "Perhaps you'd make a good one - what do you think, Natsu?"
Natsu took her time answering, making a show of observing Shotaro, scraping her lips with her butterfly-decked fingernails. When she spoke, it was with a slow deliberateness. "No, I don't think so. He doesn't look like he'd be entertaining - but we could give him a chance if you want to try level six, Yumika. I'd like to see anyone react to that."
Sho furrowed his brow, confused and a bit insulted - but there was something else. He'd thought for a moment when he first locked eyes with her that she might be Kyoko - after all, golden eyes are rare - but this dynamic of command and response was the opposite of his childhood friend. Still, she was similar… "What do you mean? I'm sure that I can entertain you."
Natsu snorted. "That's what they all say, Sho." Inside the Kyoko meeting room, Kyoko let out a wail of despair (but not a whale, as Plagioclase was snoozing in Ren's apartment). Nacchan, no! Now we have to talk to him! Natsu merely smiled - Oops.
Sho's manner shifted immediately; he knew that voice. "Kyoko."
"Wrong." Natsu glanced at Yumika, who had spoken, and smiled. "This is Kitagawa Natsu. If you forget that, you will sorely regret it."
Natsu locked eyes with Sho, daring him to make a scene, to slip out of his public persona in front of Chiori. "No, no – I've got time, tell me more. What business do you have with this 'Kyoko'?"
"I've come to collect on what she promised me," he replied, choosing his words as carefully as he could. He would not lose his cool in front of this cute, slightly rude girl - and especially not in front of Kyoko, not again.
"Oh, you mean that little promise about her not falling in love with Tsuruga Ren?" Nastu inquired, still smiling. "You can't collect on that."
"Yeah, I can - or are you going to try to tell me that that wasn't you in those pictures?" He could feel his temper rising; but he would not be the first one to get riled up.
"No, I don't think I'll waste my time on anything so pointless."
Chiori, confused by the going-ons, attempted to intervene. "Yes, let's not waste our time on such a slug, Natsu. We can go find Kaori."
Natsu simply held up a hand to Chiori before continuing. "No, I'm not going to bother talking about those images in that silly little gossip rag. I just wanted you to know that your little promise is completely invalid."
"How the hell is that-?" Sho began, only to be cut off by Natsu's fingers on his lips.
"The promise was that Kyoko wouldn't fall in love with Tsuruga Ren." She leaned in closer to him and spoke in a whisper. "Your promise is invalid because Kyoko never knew that gentleman, that perfect man."
"What do you mean, you never knew him?" Sho spat, wrenching back from Natsu's fingers. "You hang off of him every chance you get!"
"Aww…" Natsu tilted her head to one side, pitying him mockingly as she continued, "you're stupid."
Japan's top male singer bristled. "What did you say?"
"You're just a perfect little idiot," Natsu laughed. "That man - that Tsuruga Ren, the perfect gentleman? He never has and never will exist in that girl's heart. Your promise was only for her to not fall in love with 'Tsuruga Ren'; you forgot to close the loophole. She's free of you forever."
A voice sounded down the hallway, calling to the girls that everyone else was ready. Natsu linked arms with Yumika before glancing back over her shoulder at Shotaro, locking eyes with him one last time and tossing him a smirk.
"You had your chance. See you around…Shotaro."
When the two girls reached the end of the hall, Chiori turned back to the silently enraged Shotaro and stuck her tongue out at him. Natsu's trilling laughter grated in the singer's ears as the Box 'R' troupe left for the haunted house.
What the hell does that mean, Kyoko? He punched the wall, only to wince from the pain in his hand. Damn you, Kyoko…'free'? Never. Her trilling laughter echoed in his head, her smirk plastered itself across the inside of his eyelids. I…I want pudding again. Why can't I do anything right to get that back? What do I have to do, Kyoko? Is there anything I can do, to keep you from him, to have you as mine again?
(For the record, Plagioclase awoke momentarily in Ren's apartment to say one word: "Nope." He then returned to his dreams of love stories.)
On the bus to the new location (after Kyoko's and Chiori's bikes had been affixed to the bike rack), Kaori glanced at a humming Natsu. "Find a new target?"
"No, even better," she replied. "I settled an old score."
"Do tell."
Natsu simply shook her head before allowing a bit of Kyoko to leak through in a quote. "I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now."
"…Did you just-?"
"It's a good line; it deserves to be used." She glanced down at her nails before holding them up for inspection. "I got my nails done a couple days ago."
"Ooh, nice. Where did you go?" Kaori inquired.
"Ahh…" Natsu smirked, tapping a nail against her lips, "That would be Telling."
AND CUT!
Once again, I apologize. I'm going to try to be better about updates. We're finally getting near a part I've been wanting to write since September! :D
Also, out of curiosity - would anyone be interested in seeing my notes for this fic (well, chapter 18 on, since I didn't think of this until recently) after it's done? I could just post them as an extra thing at the end.
Please drop me a review~! And feel free to pester me if I take too long again. (And please forgive typos in this chapter due to computer problems.)
