"Maria-chan" Kuon greeted the president's granddaughter. She scolded at him with her eyes.
"I am upset with you, Tsuruga-sama" she dared to say.
"Why for?" he approached her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"You could have told me you loved my nee-chan" she said with a severe tone "And I'd have solved this sooner"
"I am sorry I didn't tell you Maria-chan" he said "But I had my concerns on telling it to her too. Will you be able to forgive me?"
"Only if you promise you'll take care of her and won't forget me" she said as the little child she was.
"Done" he offered his pinkie so they could seal the promise. Maria-chan linked hers into his and looked straight at him "I promise you that I won't hurt her. I know how much you treasure Kyoko"
"What's the thing that Tsuruga-sama needs from me?" Maria was straight-forward, as always.
"I am going to shop for a birthday present" he smiled "I think I know what I want to buy to Kyoko, but I want Maria-chan's opinion" she looked at him amused, Maria loved to be spoiled and she loved to have nice things "And, in return" he knew she wouldn't accompany him for free "I'll let you choose your birthday present, because you do want to celebrate your birthday this year, right?"
Maria nodded, and he took her hand. They went to a nice department store and looked for some girly stuff, such as make-up and clothes. He wanted to give Kyoko all those things he knew she had longed for and had never been able to afford. He chose a nice outfit and then he'd found the kid's version so he granted Maria-chan the wish to have something to match her nee-chan. She was thrilled, jumping all over the place.
"Tsuruga-san" he heard women at the store whispering "he's buying woman clothes and accessories and make-up… accompanied by a little kid" they were saying all over the place. He knew that it would look weird if he had gone alone, but if he had Maria-chan with him, he could just put on an act.
"Thanks for accompanying me today, Tsuruga-sama" Maria-chan was also a good actress, she had been faking to be the one who decided on what to buy "My grandfather's always busy and I have no-one who can help me buy my nee-chan's presents" she said out loud, so women and anyone else eavesdropping could pick up that he wasn't shopping for a woman. Well, he was, but his plan was to make them believe he wasn't.
"Oh, he's only accompanying that kid, I wonder who that will be" they were commenting.
"That's Maria Takarada, that child actress" someone said "Right, that's LME's president's granddaughter" others added. Kuon's plan was working perfectly fine.
When they had shopped enough for girl goods, he took Maria to the jewelry maker that had provided him Princess Rosa and its chain. He was someone he could completely trust, so he wanted to request for the real birthday present.
"Tsuruga-san, welcome back" a young saleslady attended him "I assume you want to speak to Murasaki-san directly?" she said not waiting for an answer, she vowed as a greeting and disappeared inside the store. When she came back, she made him go inside to meet the man that would help him.
"It's good to see you back Tsuruga-san" he said vowing "I see you come accompanied"
"Long time no see, Murasaki-sensei" he also vowed "I am sorry I couldn't come sooner"
"Nonsense" he said excusing him "How could I help you this time?"
"I'd love to order a few things this time" he said gazing at Maria.
"I see" he said with a weird smile. That man was aware that Ren Tsuruga was probably in love, still, with the same woman he had ordered the crystal and the chain for.
"First" he said looking at Maria "I want a special pendant for this young girl that accompanies me" he smiled "She's helped me a lot recently, and I've promised her a reward"
"Of course" the men recognized who the little girl was, as Lory Takarada was one of his best clients too.
"And then" he took some breath "I want to order some couple rings" Maria's face popped, she looked at him with surprise and then gazed with a pleasant look "I don't plan to use them soon, but I'd just like to see some possible models"
"These are good news" the man smiled.
"Well, as I said, I don't intend to use them soon" he wanted to be cautious "But I do want to order a couple of earrings, shaped as a Queen Rosa" as he said that, Maria's eyes sparkled. She knew the meaning behind Princess Rosa for her nee-chan, so she assumed that was a really special birthday gift. Kuon handled the man a drawing of what he wanted for the earrings "It's just an idea, of course I trust your designs better than this quick mess" he put on one of his Ren Tsuruga's smiles, and the man smiled back taking the drawing of the rose. They discussed the materials he preferred for the earrings and the other jewelry he had ordered and when had settled everything, they left the shop.
"I know what you've seen and what you've heard in there Maria-chan" he gazed at her "I am sure that you won't say anything about Kyoko's birthday gifts" Maria-chan made the pinky promise sign "However, I am certain of how tempting is to mention the couple rings to her" Maria's glare was cautious "But this is something I don't want to bring up soon, so telling her would be causing unnecessary distress" Maria nodded to make him clear that she understood perfectly. She was too clever for her age, indeed.
Kuon treated Maria-chan to some nice meal and brought her back to the president on the afternoon.
"Ren Tsuruga" he said in an impetuous voice "The man I wanted to see"
"I am sorry I took Maria-chan all the day with me" he said greeting him "Is there something to discuss?" he followed the president so that Maria wouldn't hear them.
"Are you sure you don't want to make everything public?" he said while Maria kept staring at them.
"I am sure, sir" he insisted. The president showed him a news blog from his brand new tablet. The head said 'Ren Tsuruga shopping for women' and the news piece explained how he had been seen shopping with a child, who had been identified as child actor and LME's president granddaughter, for women's clothes. It made a whole fuss about who the clothes would be for, but ended up saying some people had heard how it was the child the one choosing the clothes for someone she called as her own nee-san (sister), but it insisted on how suspicious it was "Maria played her part perfectly. He smiled"
"They are still not buying the story" Lory Takarada insisted.
"It's as easy as leaking some nice material Maria-chan took the other night. Is not that hard making a short communicate on how she spent the day buying gifts for her nee-sans" he smiled, Ren Tsuruga style.
"You truly believe in your potential as the perfect gentleman who even has time to waste on the president's grandchild" he seemed to be annoyed at his brilliant idea "I hope you won't be near Mogami-san too much, or everything will get exposed for real"
"Well" Kuon got serious "I do expect for people to eventually make the connection. How else would be able to justify our relationship when we're ready to reveal it later?" he had been thinking it over and over, while being away. He would grant Kyoko the time she'd need to become the actress she wanted to be, but he was hoping for the time to come sooner than everyone else expected. As Yashiro-san had pointed out, Kyoko would soon be 18. He didn't need her to be 20, just to be out of high school and with an enough established career so people couldn't say she was taking advantage of him.
"Well done, then" the president half smiled "Maria-chan" he called her "Do you have something you want granddad to show to the press?" and she hurried to handle him her phone.
"But I'll tell you which one to use" she said speaking wisely "I don't want people seeing us with funny faces or just wearing our pajamas" she chose a couple of photos were the four girls looked cute and amused. Of course, Kuon had it all covered.
