Disclaimer: I do not own nor draw Skip Beat! All rights belong in the rightful hands.
Warning: excessive fluff ahead.
Another PV
By Matelia-legwll
Epilogue
Kyoko sat, poised and waiting for her turn on the talk show. Ren was next to her, his hand resting casually on her chair's back. They had, with the blessing of President Lory, decided to announce their relationship publically for the first time during this promotion of their newest drama, The Greatest Love.
Kyoko still held reservations, and one reason it took this long for Lory to convince her is that she had a lifetime of evidence of what jealous fangirls were capable of in her immediate memory. Of course, like Lory and Ren were fond of pointing out, she was now in a different status than the average girl, because she was a star in the showbiz world, and she would not be subjected to the same bullying tactics.
After all, who would dare bully the girl who played Mio, or Natsu, or any of her other famous roles? She had gradually earned the respect of her fans and others inside the entertainment industry, who had created many bridging roles where the public could still accept the character as a villain, but they showcased more variety in her emotions and acting skills than some of her earlier roles.
It eventually got to the point where Director Shingai asked if she would consent to be the lead in The Greatest Love. If it had been a year previous, she would have fought the role purely on principle. Even when it was offered to her by the President, she had hesitated, wondering if she was really ready for such a role. It was almost too similar to what she feared her own experience would mirror.
And really, it was Ren's acceptance of the male lead that really drove her to finally consent to act in the role, and as President had pointed out at the time, it might make fans more accepting of Ren's relationship with her if they see the possibility on screen first.
"Kyoko-chan, Ren, they're ready for you," said a grinning Yashiro at the door. He had been much more courteous after Ren had finally let him in on their semi-secret relationship. Ren had kept him in the dark to avoid his fan-girl squealing for as long as possible. But Yashiro was really the only one around whom they had especially concealed their relationship. They tried to keep it subtle and only known by those within the industry, but especially with this last drama series exposing expressions that the public had yet to see on the faces of these famous actors, the rumors had leaked outside the entertainment industry and now the fans were all wondering and speculating about their relationship.
Lory had convinced both of them that it was better to come clean, before darker minds started making the rumors take on less innocent forms. Kyoko nodded to Yashiro, and stood. She twirled once for Ren, who stood and embraced her before taking her hand and leading her out of the room.
Something made her glance back into the waiting area at the very last moment, and she caught sight of a certain scowling musician and his manager for the very first time. She smiled brilliantly at both of them as they disappeared from her sight, then a few moments later, walking down the hall with her beloved, paused and whispered to him, "When did Fuwa get there? I didn't notice."
Ren shot a tender smile at her. "He was there all along."
"Oh." She frowned, slightly embarrassed now. "I wonder what show he's recording for," she said, offhand and not truly caring about hearing the answer.
"I'm sure I don't know," murmured Ren in an effort to close the topic. "Are you ready for what we're going to tell them?"
Kyoko was silent a moment, then nodded. "Of course. Let's tell them all."
At Yashiro's nod, they stepped into the light, together.
Sho sat, glaring at the closed door, as Shoko internally fretted. If she had known that the pair would be promoting their drama here today she might have been tempted to turn down Sho's Music-H interview.
"What were they doing here?" he growled after a few minutes.
Shoko shrugged. "Most likely doing a promotion for their newest drama together."
"Which drama is that?" he asked, a strange gravelly tone to his voice, which made Shoko hesitate to answer, instead wondering what was wrong with her young charge.
"Well, probably TGL," said Shoko, intentionally condensing the name to the internet shorthand for the drama to avoid mentioning that the two actors had been costarring on a drama with the word 'Love' in the title.
"TGL promotion?" parroted Sho. He had yet to tear his eyes from the door he was still glaring at.
"That's what I would assume," she said blandly.
"Oh." He finally dropped his gaze to his phone and tapped a search on it in order to get his own information about the series. But before the search engine had completed his request, the AD was at the door requesting his presence for his own taping. It would have to wait for later, he thought as he pocketed his phone.
Shoko let out a sigh of relief, knowing that there was a bad revelation in the near future. She reviewed his schedule in her head. She could probably keep him occupied until eight that evening. But after that, she'd have to take her chances with the ogre coming out.
Lory beamed as he watched the recording. How much those two had grown! And he could prove it all as the power of love!
"Have you ever had an experience similar to your characters in this drama, that a prior encounter several years before would have such an impact on your life?" asked the female host on the show.
The two actors exchanged a glance and smiled. "Actually, yes, both of us have," said Ren.
"With each other," added Kyoko.
Lory raised an eyebrow, surprised. Ren and Kyoko hadn't met more than three years ago. How was that being honest and open with their fans, like everyone had agreed prior to this set of announcements?
"It took quite a bit to recognize each other, as we both have changed drastically since the very first time we met," continued Kyoko.
"But it is true that we were childhood friends," smiled Ren, letting his hand rest on hers.
"Childhood?" Lory shouted at the television screen in his shock. "Ren, how could you forget to mention to me something that would bring so much more moe into the equation?"
"You were childhood friends?" parroted the host in obvious surprise.
Kyoko smiled gently. "We met one summer when I was six. Ten years later, I auditioned to join LME as a talent, and met him again."
"Wow. Ten years. Just like your characters in the drama," the host said, attempting to gain control again after that particular shock.
"Exactly," confirmed Ren.
Lory sat pouting at the screen. Neither one of the pair had shared that tidbit of information with him.
Kyoko giggled. "Actually it feels a bit odd to be mentioning this on air. I've never talked about it to anyone besides Ren."
"I see. What about you, Ren-sama?" asked the host. "Did you confide in anyone about this meeting?"
Ren smiled. "Of course not."
Lory narrowed his eyes. Hang on just a blooming minute. When she was six, that would have put Ren at ten… That was when he was still Kuon!
"So how did you figure out the connection between the two of you?"
They shared a glance, and Ren went first. "I had given her a keepsake to treasure when we parted as children. And when I helped her find it one day in LME, she told me a little about the boy who gave it to her. And I remembered her."
"For me, it took seeing him in a natural state when we were doing some filming in Guam to fully put the pieces of the puzzle together."
Lory slumped in shock. They had lied to him. They had withheld so much information, but more than that, he had specifically asked each of them separately about their Guam experience, and they had each reported not coming in contact with the other until after Jelly fixed Kuon into his persona as Cain. What was Kyoko talking about, seeing him in a natural state?
To Lory's amazement, the host seemed to stumble on that phrasing as well.
"A natural state? What do you mean by that, Kyoko-san?"
On screen, Kyoko froze for an instant, before placating the confused host, "Sorry, that question really belongs more to Tsuruga-san, and whether he wants to answer is up to him."
The host turned to Ren, and looked questioningly at the actor, who suddenly seemed tense. "Ren-sama, would you care to explain?"
Ren smiled disarmingly, before saying graciously, "If I might be allowed to pass by that particular question, I'd be much obliged. I'm not saying I won't ever explain that, but please let me do it in my own time, and just take Kyoko-chan at her word."
Lory wanted to pout again. Yet another chance for his reveal and return to his true name and he rejected it. He frowned. There had to be some way to speed up the healing process… marriage to Kyoko, maybe? He turned the thought over in his mind, then dismissed the event as being further out than Ren's projected date to reveal himself.
The host of the show fumbled a little after Ren's smile, obviously smitten by the noted Co-Star Killer, but eventually gained momentum once more, pursuing the topic of drama to ask about their characters and what experiences the two had based their characters on. Eventually she did ask the big question and Ren revealed that they had been each convinced of the one-sidedness of their feelings for each other for a long time before he finally confessed. Kyoko mentioned that it had been about one and a half years since that point and they had been dating since then.
Lory sighed, turning it off. The rest of the program shouldn't reveal anything he didn't already know. Unless those fools decided to hide something else from him. Childhood friends? Seriously? What a thing to keep hidden until now.
Sho stood up, enraged, still holding his phone, his eyes glaring, yet glued to the images of the people on the screen. "WHAT?"
Shoko hurriedly pulled on his arm. "Sho, calm down, sit down. You don't have time to get angry right now. There's only four more minutes left before your interview will begin."
"Childhood friends? They're making this up! She never had a friend other than me during childhood." Sho proclaimed, still resolutely standing and making more of a scene than Shoko was comfortable with, despite the two of them being unaccompanied inside his dressing room. Sho paused, thinking this over, 'Wait a sec. The summer she was six… I had turned seven that May… And for a few weeks she was abnormally missing every time I sought her out. And at the time I couldn't figure out where she was disappearing to. But that went in cycles, really. And then Kyoko said that it had to do with her running off to cry by herself. She mentioned nothing about a friend.'
Sho grit his teeth. "Ugh, 'I've never talked about it to anyone besides Ren,'" he mocked in a high pitched voice, imitating Kyoko. "Please, why would she need to keep it secret from me? I was her best friend and the man she was in love with. They've got to be making this stuff up."
"They should be done with the taping for now. You could try calling her," suggested Shoko.
"And let her refuse to pick up the call just because 'darling Ren' is in the room? Hardly." Sho finally sat as he started to plan another ambush.
Thankfully for him, he didn't have to follow through on his plans, as he ran into the pair later that week once again waiting in the same staging area for an interview. Ren smirked at him as he entered, as Kyoko utterly ignored him. That had truly gotten on his nerves the last time, and so he strutted over to the pair past the two managers, and planted himself directly in Kyoko's line of sight.
"Oh. You're here too," she acknowledged, as Ren continued to stroke her hair with one hand.
"So what was up with lying to your fans about being childhood friends with that guy? Do you think that alone will stop any repercussions?" Sho started in on the main topic he wanted to discuss bluntly, to catch her off guard, make her flustered.
"It wasn't a lie," the two replied in unison.
"Practiced, practiced, that's good," complimented Sho, leaning forward and nodding knowingly. He waggled a finger and then pointed to himself as he said, "However, you, Kyoko, happened to forget that there is one person in this room that knows you better than anyone else."
Kyoko smiled. "Yes, and that happens to be Ren, not you." She shook her head. "I didn't tell you so many things, Sho. Do you really think that just because I didn't tell you about Corn, that meeting didn't exist?"
"Corn?" parroted Sho. "Are you calling that guy a vegetable?"
"Wait, a vegetable?" repeated Ren in confusion.
Kyoko shrugged. "A six-year-old's interpretation of a name said with an American accent. Corn, Kuon. Even when Otou-san said it, I misheard it at first."
"Ah," said Ren, nodding.
"So he's not a vegetable?" checked Sho.
"Of course not."
"And you insist that you met when we were all kids? Where did you meet, then?" challenged Sho.
"At a special bend in the creek in the woods behind the ryokan. I always went there whenever I needed to recharge," said Kyoko. "And one time, it was like Corn was waiting there for me."
"I can't believe that fate led us to each other at that time. You were always the cutest little girl I'd ever met, what with your little black pigtails, and those dresses, and the fairytale gleam in those wide eyes," said Ren.
"And you were always so handsome, it was so magical. Your golden hair, the sparkling aura around you," Kyoko sighed.
"What color hair?" interjected Sho, focusing on this small detail and dismissing the rest for later contemplation.
Kyoko fingered a few strands of Ren's dark hair. "Ano, I probably shouldn't mention that part on air until you're ready for the next step, ne?"
"No, but I will take off the wig eventually," confirmed Ren.
"You're wearing a wig?" exclaimed Sho, newly horrified that a man wearing a wig had beaten him for the title of Coolest Guy in Showbiz for the seventh year running.
"Currently, no. It's a figure of speech," remarked Ren dryly. "However, that will probably be how I will reveal that I'm a natural blond."
Kyoko nodded, adding, "Especially after you had that Tsuruga Ren wig made when you were working as Cain."
"But you can't be a natural blond, you're Japanese," insisted Sho, trying hard not to picture the image of a possible future reveal inspired by what Kyoko and Ren had said. "Even I dyed my hair to get to this point."
"All three of us dye our hair, Fuwa. That doesn't mean much in an industry like ours."
"Plus, he got his natural hair color from Juli-sama," added Kyoko. "And Otou-san is only half Japanese."
Ren started to smile. "She won't be pleased you're still calling her with '–sama,' Kyoko-chan."
"But she's the beautiful fairy queen with everlasting youth. How can I possibly call her by anything else?" Kyoko began to pout. "I don't even know what Russian is for 'Mother.'"
Ren opened his mouth to reply, perhaps with the Russian word that Kyoko claimed she had been unable to learn, but Sho spoke first, once more trying to get back to his main point. "How come you never told me about him, Kyoko?"
Kyoko shrugged. "It never came up."
"Never?" he leveled a glance at her.
"You wouldn't have believed me anyway." Kyoko waved a hand dismissively. "At that point I thought he was a fairy prince and I was the only one who could see him in this world."
Ren tilted his head thoughtfully. "In a way, that's almost true. You are the only one who could see through to the true me, no matter which mask I wore."
Sho shook his head in disgust. "That's so corny. No wonder she called you Corn. So, anyway, what did you two occupy yourselves with during these supposed outings then?"
The two actors shared a smile. "Oh various things," Kyoko said vaguely.
"Like what?" bit Sho through a smile.
"Yashiro, how much time do we have before the interview will start?" Ren asked, turning slightly to glance directly at him.
The manager looked up from the email he was typing out, instantly wiping his mischievous smile from his face and appearing quite professional. "They should be coming to get us in about five minutes or so," Yashiro said soberly.
Kyoko's manager offered, "Shall I go check and make sure, Ren-san?"
"If you would, thank you," Ren nodded. "We don't want to be late."
The manager smiled, then stood and left to go find the person in charge.
Ren turned back to face Sho, then smiled a sparkly smile at him. "Quite honestly, we've humored you enough, Fuwa-san. To document the things that we did would take several days, as we were together for several days, and there are only five minutes at maximum before our next interview will call for us. Please respect our time and leave us to rest."
Kyoko after recovering from her automatic tension at the gentlemanly smile, nodded in agreement. "Besides, you'll need time to prepare yourself before your own part, right? Shoko-san, which interview is he here for?"
Shoko winced, hoping that nothing horrible would come from this interaction. "He's actually scheduled to appear on Kimagure Rock today."
Ren looked startled. "Kimagure Rock? But Kyoko-chan, you're not scheduled—?"
"No, I talked with the manager for Bridge Rock. He completely understood, and decided to get another Love Me girl to fit the costume for today."
"Ah, then I suppose Kotonami-san?"
She shook her head, laughing. "No, Chiorin, actually. Although, her grudge against that idiot is almost as big as mine now. I'm not sure this will turn out any better than that first episode."
Sho felt like he'd been struck by a rock. "First episode of Kimagure Rock? You really were the chicken?"
"Who else would challenge you to badminton, Sho? Honestly." Kyoko shook her head. "I did warn her again to be professional, no matter what, but the producer probably won't like the fact that Bo won't get along with Sho even when I'm not the one in the suit."
"Well, at least the fans enjoyed you so much that first time they requested you back," replied Ren.
Kyoko nodded. "That's true."
"Wait." Sho was having difficulty processing the facts. "You're still the chicken, even after you got fired?"
Kyoko rolled her eyes. "It's been my regular job since before. Go with Shoko-san and sit down." She closed her eyes and leaned onto Ren's shoulder.
The actor reached over with his other hand to smooth back some strands of hair that had fallen in her face. "Are you really that tired?" he asked softly. Her head nodded once, and his lips twitched up into a gentle smile.
"I could get out the pillow you gave me for my birthday," he suggested.
Her cheeks reddened, but her eyes remained closed. "Your arm is more convenient."
Sho pouted as he allowed Shoko to direct him to a seat. He sat and stared at the lovey dovey couple until Kyoko's manager came back and informed them that the interview was ready for them. Sho was still watching them head out the door when he noticed a phone lying on the chair Kyoko had been sitting in.
"Wait, Kyoko! Your phone!" he called out as he stood and hurried over to the phone. How the two actors and the two managers all didn't hear his cry he didn't know. But the door shut with Sho still holding Kyoko's phone. Grinning at a sudden idea to make himself her background photo for her cell phone, he flipped it open.
His jaw dropped. What was the Coolest Guy in Showbiz doing sleeping on a pillow so opposite of his image? It was a freaking sheep. Like a plush sheep. And what was this photo doing on Kyoko's phone?
His hand dropped, all plans forgotten. His brow furrowed, and when he came to the correct conclusion, he wanted to scream and throw the phone across the room. His free hand clenched into a fist, and Shoko, glancing up, recognized the danger and came over.
Gently prying his fingers from Kyoko's phone, she glanced at the picture still blazing on the background, and smiled. "Oh, so she managed to get a picture of the pillow in use. I suppose that he really does carry the pillow everywhere with him."
His eyes narrowing even further, he said, "What do you mean by that?"
Shoko shrugged trying to play her knowledge off nonchalantly. "Oh a while back that pillow created quite a stir among his fans. All the girls thought that he was so sweet for treasuring such a thing. It really grew his fan base."
Sho slumped into a nearby chair. How could Tsuruga's reputation take a hit like that and still grow his fan base? It wasn't fair.
Shoko glanced over and then discreetly sent an email with Kyoko's phone to the contact labeled "Manager."
"Kyoko-san's phone was left in the waiting room, please ask for it from Shoko Aki, Fuwa Sho's manager."
A few months later, in a bustling airport, while waiting for their plane to begin loading, a young couple stood, the man having his arm wrapped comfortably around the woman's waist in a close embrace. Though both were wearing sunglasses, hats and scarves to disguise their appearances in the airport, the pair was still garnering plenty of glances. Kyoko, a bit nervous at the staring, decided to retreat into the bubble that always formed when she and Kuon began a conversation.
Kyoko slowly reached up and gingerly fingered the soft locks of his hair. She smiled, "Thank you for letting me see this you again."
Kuon smiled back gently. "Of course. Besides, we're going to the States. How else would I be able to show my face?"
"That's true," Kyoko agreed. "I am looking forward to seeing Otou-san and Julie-sama again."
"Me too. Mom and Dad are probably looking forward to it a lot as well." His grip tightened on her waist as he began to make himself a little nervous, and drew strength from her companionship.
"And don't forget Director Smith. With the movie deal in Los Angeles, we'll be there for several holidays this time around. And you'll finally fly outside your father's reach."
"You helped my wings to grow, Kyoko-chan."
"And you helped light the way out of my darkness, Kuon."
Kuon grinned, leaned down, and firmly pressed his lips to his wife's. "Thank you for everything, Kyoko," he murmured in her ear.
She quickly turned her head and caught him in another kiss before he had the chance to straighten again. "I'm the one who should be thanking you, my fairy prince."
He smiled a brilliant smile, and wrapping his arms tightly around her, he whispered, "I love you, Kyoko-chan. Aishiteru."
Kyoko melted in her husband's embrace, before she nodded her head, and said the words back to him. "Aishiteru. Kuon, I love you."
A/N: I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it. This piece will continue to remain one of my favorites. And, considering my warning at the beginning of the piece, I hope I've satisfied the fluff quota for epilogues and such. And with this, it is complete.
