Chapter 10: New Life

Later the Same Night

Her laughter reverberated in the little glade. She was surrounded by nature, and the sounds of creatures rang in her ears. The earth was covered with a layer of grass, and here and there clumps of flowers grew from the ground, empowering the little glade with beauty.

She wasn't alone in enjoying the beautiful landscape. Her fairy prince held her in his arms and spun her around, trying to imitate a waltz. From time to time, he brought her closer to his body, and kissed with fervor her rosy lips.

Then letting her go when she wanted more, and spun her again, and brought her into another kiss.

Kyoko was in the arms of her fairy prince when the sounds of creatures made her pay attention to her surroundings. The sky wasn't clear anymore. Dark clouds gathered, chasing away the clear, blue sky. Small animals were agitated, running to find shelter from the upcoming storm.

She wanted to ask Ren, but too late she noticed his hands leaving her body. He was nowhere to be found. The wind became stronger, but her eyes tried to find her target. She averted her eyes, but she couldn't spot him. It was harder when the wind lifted off the ground dozens of leaves, blurring her view.

The light seemed to fade away and be replaced by darkness. She started to make small steps in a direction. She thought she saw a light, and headed there. The light she saw seemed to run away from her. The rhythm of her steps increased, and suddenly she was in a mass of light.

It was too strong, her eyes hurting her. She closed her eyes, trying to protect her sight from the glare, but when she open them again, the glare disappeared, and was replaced with darkness.

It was quiet for a moment. Then, through the air reverberated a strange sound, a sound which didn't belong to an animal or an insect. It was the first time that she heard it. It was the sound of a baby. A baby was crying.

Carefully, she listened from where the sound was coming from, and decided to head there. The road was full with fell to the ground, and lifted herself immediately. On her hands and legs she felt a warm liquid, but she decided to ignore it.

The baby's cry was closer, and when she thought she reached it, she was falling into a deep well.

She opened her eyes, and found herself in another glade. The sound of a river nearby joined with the sounds of animals. Relieved that she had escaped from the darkness, she decided to follow the sound of the river.

The sound of the river became stronger, and her ears heard noises unnoticeable before, the laughter of two people. By the voices she heard, she understood them to be a man and a small girl. Her steps became bigger, and soon enough, she found herself running.

She stopped when she had them in her view. Her fairy prince was holding in his arms a three year old girl. The girl had blonde hair, blue eyes, her father's nose, mouth, and smile. The little girl was alike his father from head to toe. She was like an angel.

"Which one do you want, Ayame?" the man asked the little angel in his arms.

"That one," she answered with her angelic voice. "I want the blue one." Ren stretched his free hand, and grabbed the little blue stone from the water and put it in her small hands.

"I will give it to Mommy," the angel said, and left her father's arms, heading to where Kyoko was.

Tears fell over her cheeks when she saw her small child running to her. But then something strange happened. Ren disappeared again, and instead of Ayame coming closer to her, she was more away.

The image of her child blurred, and she found herself surrounded by water. The level of the water increased, reaching her ankles, then her knees, and then her waist. The level of the water increased fast, and soon she was completely covered by it. And like it wasn't enough that she was drowning, she felt a pain in her stomach like someone wanted to rip her apart.

Kyoko woke up. It was the first time she'd had this kind of dream: beautiful at the beginning, and a nightmare later. Once she woke up, she thought the pain from her stomach would fade away, but it didn't. It was stronger than in her dream.

She looked at her surroundings, and understood why. On her right side, her fairy prince was sleeping soundlessly.

"Ren, wake up!" she said, while with her hand she touched his shoulder and shacked him slightly.

"Mm… Go to sleep, 's not morning yet," he said, not opening his eyes.

"Ren, my water broke. I am in labor."

"That's good, baby! That's g…" His eyes were suddenly wide open. He thought he was prepared for this moment. Months before, when he had prepared Kyoko's luggage for the hospital, he had always reviewed what he had to do when this was happening: take her luggage from the closet, call the doctor, call the grandparents, and take the future mother to the hospital. But when he was put face to face with the event, his mind became blank.

Ren rose up from the bed. He was nervous; he moved back and forth. "Let's see. What should I do? I don't remember." Kyoko never saw him so panicked before. She started to worry about him.

"Ren, relax. Call the doctor and tell him that we're coming, and after, call your parents."

"Yeah, I need to call them." He looked for the phone. "Where's the phone?" he asked her with panicked eyes.

"Living room, Ren."

They were sleeping in each other's arms. They were awake almost all night, busy with their lovemaking. They were sleeping about an hour when the sound of the phone awoke them.

The phone was on Julie's side, but she was too lazy to answer. Kuu stretched his hand and pick up the phone.

"No matter who you are, I hope you have a good excuse to awake me at this hour," Kuu spoke huskily into the phone.

"Dad."

"Kuon?"When she heard Kuon's name, she opened her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Kyoko's in labor." This was enough for them to rise up from their warm bed. In less than a minute, they were out the door.

"The dilatation isn't complete, Hizuri-san. No matter how much pain you feel, do not push," the doctor said after he examined her. She had arrived at the hospital three hours ago, and the baby still refused to come into the world.

"It hurts like hell. How long can a labor be?" Not having a maternal figure in her life, Kyoko didn't know a lot of things about birth. While she was pregnant, she had bought books about babies, and how to be a good mother. But in neither of them was the labor period mentioned.

"Some women have a twelve hour labor," the doctor said calmly. Maybe the doctor was calm, but not Kyoko.

"So, it's possible to withstand this pain another nine hours? Are you insane?" she shouted. But Kyoko wasn't the only one in pain. Ren was too. Not because he saw his wife having pain, but because his left hand was in Kyoko's clutch.

Each time when the pain worsened, Kyoko's clutch became tighter. Ren winced in pain, but his noises were covered by another loud one. Ren wanted to withdraw his hand for a second, but Kyoko's deadly glare stopped him.

"Don't you dare to take that hand from there! We're together, for better or for worse. If I am in pain, you will be too."

With a questioning look, he looked at this father. "Don't worry, son! When a woman is giving birth is the only time you don't want to be a man."

"What's that supposed to mean?" the woman from his side asked.

"Don't pretend isn't like that, Julie. When Kuon was born, you almost broke my hand. If I remember correctly, I had that bruise on my hand almost two weeks."

"Well, darling, my pain is your pain." Julie left his side, and came closer to Kyoko. She took her hand, and caressed her belly with her free hand.

"Don't worry, sweetie! The pain from now will be compensated with your child's laughter. It's worth each moment of pain to see the fruit of your love. The bud of your love"- she looked at Ren too - "will blossom."

Okami-san entered the gathering, having in her arms a dozen bananas. She advised Kyoko to eat them in order to have enough energy for the upcoming birth.

Two hours had passed since the doctor's visit when Kyoko let loose a loud, painful scream. In the last ten minutes, her pains intensified, and were often. The nurses came in immediately, and the doctor followed them.

"Kyoko, your baby wants to come. All of you, besides Ren, please leave. It's much too crowded in here. The Hizuri couple, Takarada Lori, Maria, Yashiro, Kanae, and the Darumaya couple left.

"Kyoko, when I say 'three,' you will push, you got me?"

"Huff… Huff…Yeah, I got it," she answered.

"1… 2… 3."

"Ahhh…Ahhh!" Kyoko shouted in pain. Ren hissed in pain, and tried to comfort his wife, but he got only deadly glares.

"Don't look at me like that, mister! I am lying on this bed trying to give birth to our child. Do you have any idea how worse this pain is? So don't you dare complain about your little pain. If your hand breaks, you will just get a cast." Her words were bitter, but she meant them.

The actions repeated a couple of times, till the room was filled with the cries of the new life.

"Congratulations! You have a healthy baby girl." Kyoko's eyes flooded with tears. She stretched out her hands to receive her in her arms.

She was a small being, a small, little girl with big, blue eyes, and with tufts of blonde hair. She was alike her father from head to toe.

"Ayame," Kyoko whispered, and kissed her forehead. Kyoko looked at Ren with tears in her eyes. "You were right, she's a hime-sama." Ren didn't answer, but smiled, and moved from the chair and sat on the bed.

He put his arms around his wife, embracing both of his precious women. "She's wonderful. She's as beautiful as her mother," he said, and bent his head to kiss his hime-sama's forehead.

"Don't lie. She's beautiful as her father. She has your eyes, your hair, your nose, and your mouth. She's all you."

Ren left Kyoko alone a moment, just long enough for him to sign the discharge paper. Kyoko remained in her hospital room, preparing for the leave. Not for a moment did it cross her mind that her biggest enemy would make his presence felt.

While she changed her baby, she heard the door open, and footsteps coming inside the room.

"You were fast!" she said, and turned around to see Ren, but all air stopped coming into her lungs when she saw that hated face. It was Sho.

Since that incident six months ago, she never saw him. Even if both of them were in the entertainment world and met often in the past, in the last six months, it was like Sho never existed. Little did she know that her family and close friends had taken care of that.

Her heart started to beat faster. She was scared. The last time, she saw a beast, and now, he wasn't too far from that. The newborn baby felt her anxiety, and started to cry.

"What are you doing here?" Kyoko was the first who broke the silence. She gathered her courage, and decided to not let him run her life.

"I was right, then. Tsuruga Ren had you in his bed. Moreover, you gave birth to his child." Sho made a step in her direction, while Kyoko took a step backwards. She wanted to put distance between them.

When Sho heard the news that Tsuruga Ren took some days off due to personal issues, he knew. Tsuruga Ren, the man obsessed with work, would skip work due to one reason, and that reason had a name: Kyoko.

He hired a man to follow Ren, and this way he find out where Ren was in the last few days. His goal for coming here was to apologize to her, but step by step, his mind went blank, jealousy being his primal instinct.

He saw her turning around to face him. In her arms was a newborn baby, and all her being exuded with happiness. He was jealous. That child had to be his. The smile that escaped her lips thinking he was Ren had to be his. But neither of these belonged to him. He had nothing.

Once again, he was mad.

"I thought you wouldn't give yourself to a man so easily, but I was wrong. You gave yourself to him like a whore." Kyoko's first impulse was to slap him, but her preservation instincts screamed Stay away from him.

Sho took more steps forward. At some point, Kyoko's back met the wall, not having anywhere to retreat or run away. The beast was moving step by step closer to her. She was shaking in her shoes, and the baby wouldn't stop crying.

"You seemed innocent, but you were a whore who bed with the first man you saw or said sweet words to you. I just wonder what that man of yours would say if…"

Sho could not finish his sentence. A huge hand grabbed him by the collar of his coat and threw him into the nearest wall. Next, a fast hand grabbed him by the throat.

"That man of hers would say if what?" the hand possessor asked.

In the last six months, Ren had wanted to put his hands on Sho. Yes, he had promised his parents and Kyoko that he wouldn't kill Sho, but the jerk had a lucky star on his head. After months of waiting to have him in his hands, Sho had made his biggest mistake.

When Ren had approached the hospital room, he heard voices from inside. Even if the baby's crying had almost covered the other voices, Sho's voice was loud enough for Ren to hear word by word. He had almost raped her, he'd shocked her pretty badly, she'd cried for hours, and the culprit didn't have any remorse.

Ren snapped when the word whore echoed in his mind. He swung the door open. Kyoko was too scared to notice, and Sho too absorbed by his ego to observe Ren's presence.

"You really have nerve, Fuwa Sho, coming here and threatening my wife again. You really have guts." Sho's mad look was nothing compared to Ren's. Ren's look wasn't mad, it was deadly. It wasn't Ren anymore; it was his older self.

"What will you do to me? Will you kill me?" Sho asked with a smug look on his face. A malicious smile showed on Ren/Kuon's lips.

"You know what, that's not such a bad idea." Ren/Kuon grabbed his throat tightly. Soon, Sho was fighting for air, not with Ren. When Sho's arms fell to his sides, Ren/Kuon set him free. Sho fell to the floor, released from the constriction, and fought to take in big gulps of air.

Ren grabbed him again by the collar of his coat. "You listen well, Fuwa. Be near her again, or insult her again, and I swear it will be the last thing you will do. A look of yours towards her is enough for me to kill you. If you want to live, it would be better for you to stay away from her, or else you will meet my dark side. And that is something you don't want to know."

Ren released his prey, and took Kyoko and the baby home. Miraculously, the moment when the baby heard Ren's voice, even with a trace of anger in it, she had stopped crying.

It couldn't end like had to take his revenge. He was ten feet away from the famous scandal magazine when two men in black approached him.

"Fuwa Sho, our master wants to see you." It was the last thing he saw or heard. From behind, a hand covered his nose with a white handkerchief.

Loud screams woke him up. He was in a dark room. The noise wasn't coming from his room, but certainly somewhere near. He lost track of the time. If he was there for hours, days, or weeks, he had no clue.

He started to make some noise. Maybe someone would come and check on him, or at least give him some food. He wanted to go to the restroom, but his yells were in vain. No one came.

After hours of yelling, the door opened. What he saw, he did not like.

It was his nightmare, a nightmare with black hair and with the ugliest beard he ever saw. Yes, it was the gangster, the man who threatened he would cut down Sho's male pride and sell his internal organs on the black market if he didn't respect the rules.

And he had not respected the rules. He'd blown them away. Of course this bearded man had known about his intent to catch Kyoko inside the restaurant bathroom and that he had called Kyoko a whore at the hospital.

Sho had had a simple task to accomplish if he wanted to stay whole: to leave Kyoko alone. But no, he had a big, male ego, and his big stupidity had shortened his lifespan.

"Long time no see, Sho-chan. If my memory is correct, the last time you promised me you would respect the rules. Unfortunately for you, fortunately for me, you will now become just a piece of meat in a jar."

Sho couldn't say a word. He was in darkness before, so he couldn't see the instruments on the table: pliers, and a huge pair of scissors.

"Soon, the auction for your organs will begin, but you know what will happen first. But before we proceed in doing that, I want you to see a live demonstration."

Other lights turned on, and through a tinted window, Sho could see behind that. Lying on a table was a naked man. Finally, he knew the origins of the screams. Beside that man was another, dressed completely in white, with pliers in one of his hands, and with a huge pair of scissors in the other one.

Sho saw the white dressed man using the pliers to grab the victim's shaft, and using the scissor to c…Sho couldn't stand to watch until it was over. He closed his eyes at the first screams of the victim.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw the other room covered in darkness.

"That scum over there abused a woman three days ago. She was coming home late from work when that scum caught her, and… I can't stand that kind of man. Cutting off their…is the perfect punishment."

"If I am missing, people will search for me. I am a singer…" The bearded man took a newspaper from the table.

"You mean this?" The front page title was…a shock for Sho. Fuwa Sho Dead in a Plane Accident."Let me read you some of this article. "

Leaving to Taiwan three days ago to receive a prize for the best singer from Asia, Fuwa Sho's plane crashed into the sea. Authorities announced no survivors.

"I think your female fans are crying for you now. Trust me, boy, all that they look for is a corpse. But in the sea are a lot of fish, and some of them like human flesh. The chances of your body being discovered are very slim. Since I have some compassion for you- after all, you died in a plane accident, you won't feel a thing while your…You …will be cut off."

Again, a white handkerchief covered his nose, and darkness came upon him once again. When he would woke up next, he wouldn't be a man anymore, but at least he wouldn't live enough to pity his fate.

Another noise woke him up. This time, he wasn't in a dark room sitting on a chair. He was in his room, in his bed. A door swung open, and his manager came inside.

"You lazy boy, you're late for your interview. Go and dress yourself, stupid boy." The first thing Sho did was to check if he was still a man. Touching himself, and seeing his male anatomy parts still attached made him let loose a happy, loud scream.

"It was just a dream. It didn't happen." But his gaze stopped on the newspaper stuck by his door closet. Fuwa Sho Dead in a Plane Accident. He froze. It hadn't been a dream after all. For some unknown reason, Sho had been released.

Next to the newspaper was a note. Let's see if you still have the nerve to not respect the rules. See you soon!

Little did he know that the whole kidnapping thing was a farce, a masterpiece planned by Lory, Kuu, and the Akatoki president. They hired actors who played the role of the victim and the executioner. They even published a newspaper to trick Fuwa.

While Kuu had the job of torturing Sho psychologically, in another room through a camera, Lori and the Akatoki president enjoyed the show. The Akatoki president promised months ago that he would deal with Fuwa if he wouldn't cooperate.

"Did you see his face when he saw the pliers and the scissors? It was worth the effort."

"He's lucky he's still alive. My boy could have killed him that day. I guess he needed a lot of effort to calm himself down and just scare Fuwa."

"My boy was naughty lately. Let's enjoy his horror. I had a lot of fun watching him."

The shock was too big for Sho to try to visit a scandal magazine, or to sell through other methods the latest gossip about Kyoko and Ren.

Three months later, after many debates with Lori, Kyoko and Ren decided to reveal their secret to the media. The whole of Japan was shocked when the news appeared. Kyoko and Ren's life took another turn, with press hounding their tracks 24/7.

It was difficult for them to even leave their homes for work, and dates were out of question. No matter what their discussions entailed, in the end, everyone reached the same conclusion: they were a fine couple.

Author note: I wanted to punish Sho, and I hope that you had fun reading. The next chapter it will be an Epilogue . Finally After wedding will take an end.

If you like this chapter you're free to share your thoughts.