Important Author Note: I actually have to give thanks to brennakai for part of this chapter. They wrote this idea for me down in their review and I liked it so much I had to put it in this chapter. Thank you 😊

Chapter Nine - Batman's Two Face

Kyoko held tight to Kuon's hand as they stood in the agency building. As Kuon wasn't able to move, Kyoko looked around and smiled as she stared at the spot in which she had first met him as Ren. She couldn't believe that it had happened so long ago but even though it was a moment with a lot of animosity, it was a precious moment to her.

"Do you remember that you were right here when you said that I could beat that guy easily just by singing a little song?" Kyoko pointed as Kuon turned to look at it for a moment and nodded. "I think I cursed you a lot after that meeting. I'm glad that we got a second chance," she said as she kissed his cheek.

She could see people looking at him and some people try to divert their eyes. Even with a bandage over his face, they had seen what was underneath it. No wonder he looked so pale.

"You think it's as disgusting under there as it looked in the picture?" one of the girls, a new singer, giggled and Kyoko saw Kuon withdraw in on himself. She glared at the girl but didn't say anything.

"I'm glad that there are people who can now represent Japan," her companion said as Kyoko felt Kuon hold her hand tighter. Couldn't they see that he was suffering.

"Come on," Kyoko whispered as she lifted his hand and kissed the back of it affectionately. "You wanted to come and talk to the president face to face. I'm sure that he wants the same thing." She saw Kuon nod and then froze as Sawara-san approached him. Kyoko quickly dropped into a bow and seeing her do that, Kuon followed suit.

"Ah, Ren. Welcome back," the department head smiled as he put a hand on Kuon's shoulder. "We were all worried about you. Japanese TV should give more details about what's going on. Well I'm glad to see that you're still alive and standing upright," he said as Kyoko looked at Kuon and saw the Tsuruga-san smile on his face. At least that was a start.

"Thank you, I hope that I haven't left too much of an absence," he smiled charismatically and Kyoko had to admire his strength.

"Kyoko-san," Sawara said, "There's something that I'd like to talk privately with you about."

Kyoko paused and turned to her boyfriend, "Could it be on another day?" she asked, "I'm really here to support Ren. I don't want to leave hi-"

"It's okay, we still have some time before we're due to meet the president," Kuon smiled to her and Kyoko felt uneasy when she saw that but she knew for appearance sake she had to talk to Sawara-san. She kissed his good cheek and then walked off as Kuon went to sit down knowing that everyone was looking at him as if he were a pygmy hippo.

As he sat there looking forwards into whatever dark hole he had in his mind, he was caught by a flash of shocking neon pink from two directions. He looked up and found himself speechless as he saw the two other Love Me members standing there. "Good morning," he tried to smile at them and Kanae was the first person to point a finger at him.

"We're on to you," she told him as Kuon blinked not sure what she was talking about. "You've started to date Kyoko, haven't you?"

"It's kind of a shame because romance is a waste of time," Chiori commented as Kuon looked at them with a weak smile, he nodded. "Ugh, can you just - it's not that you're not a good person but you're so false."

"I'm sorry about that," Kuon said as he looked forwards. "As for whether I've started to date Kyoko, then yes I have. I think she's equally as happy about that as I am," he told them. He looked at his hands, he actually really hoped that sentiment was true and she wasn't just being with him out of pity.

"It doesn't matter that you're rich," Kanae said as Kuon looked at her confused, "Kyoko isn't the type of girl who-"

"Kyoko isn't the type of girl who can be bought by just fancy bouquets filled with jewels," Chiori said as Kanae looked at her in surprise. That wasn't where she thought that sentence was going to lead but it was true all the same. "Men who try to buy women are the worst."

"Hey," Kuon said as he looked at the two of them. "I have never tried to buy a woman in my life. I was as surprised as you seem that she told me that she loves me and you know what, I love her too. I'm not going to treat her like an object."

"So, you're saying that if Kyoko wanted to do international acting you would stay at home with any offspring that you force her to have?" Kanae asked and Kuon looked at her.

"Kotonami-san, I respect and understand your friendship with Kyoko. You are an important person to her, probably more important that I am, but I would never force her into or out of anything that wasn't her choice." Kuon stood up, his eyes catching sight of the president talking to Kyoko within ear shot. However, he needed to make the two pink-cladded girls understand this. "I have always been supportive of Kyoko's dreams. I want to see her as the actress to represent Japan as much as she does. If we ever had children, which is between me and Kyoko only, I would of course take care of them if she was overseas and even if she wasn't, bringing up one's child should be a shared thing. My parents both worked and though there were some hard times, I always knew that the two of them loved me. I want to go out to work -"

"Which is going to be hard with your appearance, Ren" Lory said as Chiori looked down remembering her own scar. It was so minute compared to the man's in front of her but it was as if the president was making a dig against her and without her notebook it was harder to keep control.

"Why should the way he looks make any difference?" Chiori said bluntly. "Do you think that the fact that I have a scar makes any difference? I rely on talent to get my roles despite how much I dislike the comedic ones and with all due respect, I think that Tsuruga Ren has been talked about in so many magazines and interviews that it's hard to avoid the knowledge of his talent. Real stars have the love in their hearts that Kyoko does, they have the ability to motivate people, or are you saying that if Kyoko had that burn that she wouldn't be able to act?"

Lory paused as he noticed Kuon's shocked look. This girl was just trying to warn him about treating Kyoko badly and now she was standing up for him. Maybe there were more people around him who supported him.

Kyoko reached out for his hand, grinning to her friend's. "Come on," she said as she tried to pull him out. "Sorry, we've got a meeting with the president. Will you be here when it's over, Moko-chan?" she asked with her eyes filling with light.

Kanae sighed before nodding. "Sure, maybe we could all do something together," she said as she saw Kyoko's smile as Kuon wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

That guy better not hurt Kyoko.

…..

…..

Lory sighed as he sat down opposite the couple. He kept looking at the bandages on Kuon's face. He wanted to see what the burn looked like in person but he didn't know the most tactful way of saying it. He looked down before humming, "Kuon, Ren, which one do you -"

"I'm not sure," Kuon said as he looked up, "I suppose if it's personal Kuon and it's business Ren. I mean, my dad had a stage name and everyone knew his real name. Maybe that's what I want?" he asked and Lory hummed again with a frown. This was a mix of both.

"Okay, Kuon," Lory said, "I need to apologize. Your injuries and what happened, those things are my fault. You came to me, which wasn't an ordinary occurrence, and you told me that you felt that you were being targeted and I didn't sort it out soon enough. If it wasn't for my telling Yashiro-san about what you had told me then he might not have been concerned enough to go up to the apartment."

"So, you think that you get credit for that?" Kyoko asked, she was still annoyed with what the president had told Director Shinkai about Kuon not being an actor any longer. "You didn't act but if you had put Kuon under protection and found the guys before they did this to him."

"Kyoko, it's alright. Weren't you the one to tell me that everything in life was connected and that we can only have some experiences because of others happening?" Kuon asked before looking down. "Acting is the second most important thing to me, Boss."

"The second?" Lory asked surprised and Kuon took Kyoko's hand. "I see," he grinned before seeing Kyoko's serious expression.

"I know that you want to take care of Kuon, president" she said before looking down, "but I want the same thing. I don't think that Kuon hiding away in the shadows is going to do anything and it will definitely have a negative effect on Ren's career. I think that we should support him and if he falls, we help him get back on his feet. I am willing to do that. I am head cheerleader of the Ren Tsuruga slash Kuon Hizuri recovery team."

"Well then," Lory said, "I do have to ask one thing before I sign off on it," he said before his expression turned sadder. "Kuon," he said and Kuon nodded, understanding where this was coming from. He slowly unwrapped his face and looked towards Lory who was looking more mournful about how the burns had taken over half of his face.

"You look like the character that actor played," he said before gesturing, "You know that American actor in the superhero -"

"You mean Batman's Two Face, everyone has said the same thing to me," Kuon said, "However he had bones sticking out of his face, at least it isn't that bad," he said before closing his eyes. "I know how I look. I'm still struggling to accept it, but after seeing that movie I know that Harvey Dent only became Two Face after the loss of the woman he continued to love. I can understand that. When I first saw myself, I was only supported by strings but Kyoko helped build a ladder to support my body. Without her, I don't know who I'd be."

Kyoko smiled at him and Lory saw how the burn didn't change how much she cared for him. Of course, it didn't, Kyoko was definitely not the kind of girl who placed importance on the outside of a person. It was their heart that mattered to them and the idea that they wouldn't abandon her.

"Well, I'll let you do this but I'm going to be watching how you are psychologically," Lory said. "If I find that acting in this role is too challenging for you then I'm going to force you to take some much deserved time off. If I ask you to do that, I'm going to give you one chance each month to prove to me that you can enter the acting arena."

"Don't worry," Kuon said boldly, "I've got it. I won't let it break me as long as…" he looked across at Kyoko.

"Like a burnt face could stop me from loving you, Corn" Kyoko smiled at him. She was beyond proud of his efforts and thankful for the chance he now had. She knew that he could prove the world that despite the outside was charred, his soul and his passion made him beautiful outside and in.

End Chapter Nine

AN2: Thank you so much to the people who read and support this story. Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Eight: brennakai and ktoll9. Another special thanks to brennakai for her idea of having Kanae and Chiori confront Kuon 😊 If you have an idea that you don't mind me using, feel free to suggest it. Most of the time I will probably stick with my ideas but if there is a suggestion you want to make feel free to share and it might get included. Thank you to everyone once again.