Old Friends

"Sir, Director Kingo is here to speak with you," prompts Lory's aide from the doorway of his private office at his home. It is late Saturday evening and the president has been waiting on pins and needles for an update on his current project.

"Why don't you take him to the study and I will join him there shortly," Lory replies as he gathers up the script he is reviewing as well as two others that he has already approved.

The powerful entertainment magnet flows down his hallway in his favorite Arabian prince costume. With a flourish, he sweeps into his study to greet his clearly agitated co-conspirator.

"Are you trying to drive me insane?" accuses the director as he paces from one side of the opulent and richly decorated room to the other one.

Lory chuckles. "Many would say that you have already been on that trip many years ago."

Kingo freezes and turns to the head of LME with a vicious expression on his face.

The president waves off the moody reaction as he places his scripts on the mahogany table. At the end of the meeting, the president will make sure that the director takes the scripts with him. They are for episodes four through six of Innocent Whispers. He had sent the stories back to the staff writers for some adjustments the day before yesterday. He smirks at his expert scam. Even though Lory told Ren that the project belonged to Kingo only, he did not let him know that he was actually behind the entire production. The LME president glances at his guest and hopes that he is doing the right thing.

Walking across the study, Lory settles into one of the two leather chairs facing the fireplace. He stares into the leaping flames as he patiently waits for the agitated director to join him.

Kingo sighs dramatically then drops a pink folder on the end table between the two leather chair. He settles wearily into the other leather chair as Lory picks up the folder.

The president flips open the folder and removes a large pile of production photographs. He flips through the full cast images as well as the individual shots. They are professional and perfect. They will be sent out this next week to start advertisements for the upcoming show. Lory has planned an all out media blitz for his newest baby.

The next set are of photos are of Ren and Kanae. Lory can't help but smile at the story being told in the images. He silently congratulates both his talents on their emotional displays.

"How much prompting did these images require?" Lory asks.

"Very little for the first part but the last ones took some effort. Neither talent seemed comfortable being physically close with each other in a romantic manner. I was actually surprised at how stiff Tsuruga was."

Lory snorts. He is not surprised. Kuu's boy is a love idiot after everything is said and done. If he wasn't such an idiot, Lory would not be forced to be so Machiavellian with his plans.

The president flips to the pictures of Ren and Kanae kissing.

"Wow, these are really impressive," he mutters. "Was Kyoko-san on set for this exchange?"

Kingo nods and the president goes back to examining photos as he thinks that they are even more impressive now.

"How did she respond?" Lory asks.

Kingo shrugs. "She was kind of indifferent," he replies.

Lory frowns. That was not the reaction he was hoping to receive.

He flips through the second couple's pictures. This second coupling really looks like they are having a lot of fun and enjoying each others company.

"Impressive. Kijima-san actually curbed his playboy attitude to be able to get a friendly atmosphere going with Amamiya-san," Lory comments.

"Actually, your girl had an easier time then he did. It took her a few minutes but she warmed to the roll of friend pretty quickly. Kijima-san needed a number of prompts though because he kept slipping into his normal attitudes towards pretty females. It would have been even more of a challenge if I had paired him with Kotonami-san."

"Really?" Lory inquires with sudden increased interest. "He seems smitten with LoveMe number two?"

Kingo nods.

"Hmm, that should be interesting to watch," the president replies as he flips through to the final set of images. The folder falls to the floor as the president stands.

"What the HELL is this?" he demands as he turns on the glowering director. Feeling trapped in his chair by the irate cos-player, Kingo also jumps to his feet.

"Those are retribution gone all to hell," the director grumbles as he brushes past the horrified president and starts pacing again.

Lory takes a calming breath as he flips once more through the remaining images. As he looks at the provocative pictures, he shivers not just at the startling depiction of his innocent LoveMe number one but also at how powerfully the drama unfolds.

"How did this happen, Dark?" ask Lory with concern evident in his voice and expression.

Kingo pauses at the utterance of his old nickname. No one has called him that in years. He stares across the room at one of the few people who knew him by that name yet still will associate with him. The director frowns. Even if the president only associates with him through work, he owes him something for that loyalty. Kingo sighs and runs his fingers through his slowly graying hair.

"You promised me that I could be myself with this project, right?" the director stresses to begin.

Lory nods.

"Well, she pissed me off," he rants as he flings his hand towards Lory to indicate the actress whose picture rests in his hands.

"You told me that Tsuruga would most likely cause me some difficulties but he has been almost unfailingly polite. In fact, he's only said one thing so far and that was in defense of your third LoveMe gal. Although, to his credit, Kyoko didn't really give him a chance this morning."

The director accurately relates the events of the morning as well as his attempt at retribution for her publicly correcting his childish behavior.

"I failed miserably though," he admits as he sits down at the table and rests his head in his hands. I expected her to be horrified when she saw the outfit she was to wear. She's so damn conservative and sweet. Hell, even when she was correcting my bad behavior, she was so damn polite about it. I was so amazed I couldn't yell at her. Then when the moment was over, I knew that I had to do something about it or I would lose and we both know how much I hate to lose."

Kingo shares a look with Lory. The president has known him all of his career and he has always known the director to be a driven professional and an artistic perfectionist. He never settles for second best. Even before the accident, he would never have taken a public scolding from a junior in the business.

"Anyway, I expected her to tell me that she couldn't do the shoot dressed in that manner or that she would be so embarrassed that she wouldn't come out of the dressing booth or some dumb fool think like that. I would have scolded her in front of everyone and then either bullied her into the outfit or waited until Tsuruga made a fuss and I allowed her to wear the original outfit. I thought it was the perfect plan for retribution. She came out though. Man, did she come out. Everyone was floored. Me included."

"By the time she came onto the set, she already had Koga wrapped around her finger. She never reacted to the kiss. She then proceeded to sit and calmly watch the entire shoot for Kijima and Amamiya. It was weird. She didn't speak with anyone but watched everything with interest. When I told her what I expected for her shoot, she was completely accepting. I told her that I hoped to see the same type of exchange she did with Koga when she first entered the studio but that I wanted her to end the shots with her accepting his plea."

Lory drops the pictures on the table and spreads them across the dark surface. The first couple show Koga watching Kyoko as she stalks across the stage. Then Koga embracing Kyoko from behind and whispering in her ear. The actress threatens him. He scoffs. She then stomps on his foot and flings off his arm. She turns on him and stabs him in he chest with her finger as she back him across the empty stage. With each step Koga takes backwards, you can see his desire for Kyoko growing. She spins away from him and he reaches out to her. She strides arrogantly away from his outstretched hand but turns slightly. She smirks back at Koga as she lets her coat fall to the ground. The actor step right on it as he follows Kyoko to other side of the stage where a stark white couch sits. Kyoko turns and grabs Koga by the edges of his open leather vest. She first pulls him towards her then pushes him onto the couch before straddling his lap. She runs her hands up his bared chest and laughs. The final images show Kyoko kissing Koga as if she is devouring him.

The very last image haunts the president. It shows Koga with his hands possessively grasping Kyoko's leather covered bottom as the actress pulls away from the kiss with Koga's lower lip between her teeth. A single drop of Koga's blood drips from his lip to his chin to showcase the aggression of Kyoko's seduction.

Lory clears his throat and flips the final picture face down on the table.

"Did Ren watch this shoot?"

Kingo replies that he did. Lory sighs as he steps away from the table.

"How did he respond?"

"Better than Kotonami actually. Afterward, He was kind of quiet about the whole thing although I heard him making some pretty interesting noises during the shoot. I want' sure if they were pain sounds or well, another kind of sound. LoveMe number two's reaction was something else though. When Kyoko exited the stage she lit into her like a fishwife going after her cheating husband."

Lory cringes. Kotonami has a formidable temper. Since she has more understanding about the entertainment world, she had to have suspected that Kyoko's pictures would not really be suitable for promoting the television show.

Kingo laughs mirthlessly. "For a moment, I thought Kyoko was going to hit the other girl but then she suddenly blushed and started apologizing. It was like her entire personality changed. It was weird since she wasn't given a character to play. It was just a photo shoot. Her reaction to her female co-star was what I was expecting at the start of the scene. Not at the end. Are you sure that girl doesn't have multiple personality disorder?"

Lory laughs. "No, she is just that good," he replies as he walks to his liquor cabinet and pours himself a brandy. He offers a drink to Kingo who joins him. They both sip their drinks in silence for a few moments.

The director contemplates the project and the talents that the eccentric president has handed him. Lory considers how he could have misjudged Ren's reactions so badly. The president suddenly smacks himself in the forehead. He had forgotten what Yashiro had told him about last Valentine's Day. He had forgotten that Ren had brushed off Fuwa's kiss and told Kyoko that kissing for her job is not the same as kissing with feeling. Lory groans as he realizes that Ren is once again burying his head in the sand on the beach of his acting career.

"Stupid boy," he mutters.

Realizing what his old friend is thinking, Kingo walks back over to the table and flips the final picture which Lory had previously hid.

"Perhaps not," the director replies.

"You told me that Tsuruga is in love with your first LoveMe girl. That is not LoveMe girl number one," he reports as he taps the picture. His eyes take on an awed expression. "That was someone totally new. Someone who moved and spoke completely different. Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if she smelled different. She's amazing."

Pushing aside thoughts of Ren, Lory chuckles. "So did you tell Kyoko-san that?"

Kingo glares at his old friend. "Of course not," he replies. "You told me I could be myself on this production."

Saddened by this comment, the president sips his drink and replies "so I did, Dark. So I did."