Sorry I'm a week late guys, time got away from me. I will do my best to be up by next week but don't worry if I'm a little late, it will still be finished. I promise I won't give up on it.
While not entirely pleased to see them enter arm in arm, Ren couldn't help but smirk as he watched Kyoko glide onto the stage, fully recognizing he was watching Natsu walk onto stage and not the meek and quiet Kyoko. Ren couldn't help a small surge of pride as he watched her confidently enter the stage, fully prepared to fight back and not be pushed around by the hostess.
Kyoko and Sho settled in on the couch opposite Ren and Ayame, both girls seated closest to the hostess as the boys sat on the outer edges. As soon as the pair finished settling in and looked up, the hostess immediately jumped in.
"Thank you both of you for agreeing to come on the show, as I'm sure you're aware I'm Kimiko. It is a pleasure to have you both here today."
"It is our pleasure to meet you" Kyoko replied first, turning her head to gaze around the set and take it all in. "It's a lovely show you have here, it's quite surprising though that the first time I see it is as a guest."
"Oh? You've never watched before" Kimiko gasped, feigning heartbreak to her audience.
"No." Kyoko replied flatly, staring the hostess down. "I am busy filming all day or in school, leaves very little time for daytime talk shows."
"Well, why don't we stop talking about me and my show, let's get to know the two of you more." Turning on Kyoko, the hostess' gentle smile turned to one of mischief. "Tell me Kyoko, how is it a young actress such as yourself already managed to catch the attention of two of Japan's most eligible men?"
"I'm not quite sure what you mean by catch their attention, but Tsugura-san" Kyoko smiled gently towards him with a slight head nod "is my sempai at LME and we worked together on Dark Moon, as I hope many in your audience can recognize" finishing with a quick wink to the audience Kyoko earned quite a few applause and laughter. "Whereas Fuwa-san was kind enough to hire me for his promo video for his single 'Prisoner' which is actually where Director Ogata found me"
"That's it? That's all there is to tell about you three? I find that quite hard to believe considering the news today. For such simple relationships you'd think that Tsugura-san would not stand up his fiance and have a battle of wits backstage with Fuwa-san after appearing on your show Bridge Rock."
"For that I apologize profusely to Ayame-san" Kyoko began, her eyebrows furrowing in worry and she bowed towards Ayame as low as she could while sitting before sitting back up to continue. "As I mentioned earlier, I am Tsugura-san's kouhai and he has helped me many times with my role as Mio and I sadly still require guidance from a seasoned actor with my roles and I had run into him earlier in the studio and requested his assistance. I had no idea he had plans that evening, or I would never have asked for help"
Tsugura smiled gently down at the young girl who was fully taking the blame for his mistake yesterday. Looking up quickly, sensing a threat, Ren locked eyes with Sho as the two stared each other down, Sho clearly furious with Ren for letting Kyoko take the fall. Clearing his throat, Ren quickly intervened before Kyoko could continue "It is no fault of your own, I should have remembered my dinner date with Ayame, which I will be making up to her for the rest of my life" Ren continued with a chuckle as he took Ayame's hand who was smiling up at him.
"So then tell me Kyoko" Kimiko continued, clearly determined not to sidetrack from her target, "If your relationships with these two men is merely professional, why was Fuwa-san so protective of you this morning when the four of you were in the elevator?"
Anger flared around Kyoko for a split second, only noticed by the two men in question before she returned to her normal Natsu.
"That would obviously be my fault" Sho intervened before Kyoko could reply "I know Kyoko just stated we were merely colleagues but that isn't completely true" Sho continued, causing Kyoko to spin on him and narrow her eyes, wary of what he was about to say.
"What do you mean not true?" Kimiko urged on as she watched the couple stare each other down, hoping for the juicy gossip she needed to boost her ratings.
"Kyoko and I are childhood friends. We've known each other our whole lives" Sho replied with a smile as he looked up at Kimiko. "We tried to keep that relationship out of our professional careers so people didn't think I chose her based on our friendship for the PV"
"So you didn't choose her because you were friends?"
"To be honest I wasn't aware it was her until we were preparing for filming."
"How is it you didn't know? How close of friends were you?"
"Well, we lived together for years as kids because her mother left her in my family's care while she was away travelling for work and the two of us came to Tokyo together before high school. But at the time of the filming we had been apart for a few months and Kyoko had completely changed her appearance for show business I presume."
"So that's all it is, childhood friendship?" Sho and Kyoko nodded in reply as Kimiko narrowed her eyes towards them. "It seems awfully protective for just a friend Fuwa-san. Are you honestly telling me that you harbor no romantic feelings for the beautiful young girl beside you that you yourself admitted to spending quite a large part of your life with?"
Kyoko again spun to stare down Sho, as the audience gazed on leaning forward at the suspense of the moment. "Uh, well" Sho stutted slightly, caught off guard at the intensity of the hostess and stares.
"You're hesitating Fuwa-san." Kimiko began, reveling in the victory at hand. "Are you in love with Kyoko?" Kyoko spun to face the hostess now, appalled at the absurdity of the question before spinning back at Sho, wondering why he wasn't vehemently denying such an accusation.
"Well," Sho began, sitting upright and regaining his composure before meeting Kyoko eye to eye, "Yes"
The audience was in an uproar as the hostess practically beamed at her victory and Ren and Kyoko sat stunned, Ren staring across at the couple while Kyoko merely gaped like a fish out of water.
"Can I assume by the reaction of Kyoko, that this is not something you have told her yet Fuwa-san?"
"No, unfortunately you managed to steal that moment from me, although I guess I could have lied here today on stage but I feel you would have just kept pressing for an answer" Sho replied, quirking an eyebrow at the hostess in question who merely gave a half smile and nodded.
As the hostess prepared to continue questioning the young pair on stage, Ayame cleared her throat, drawing her attention to the other couple on stage. "Should we be going then?" Ayame asked politely, sweet smile on her face but eyes clearly daring the hostess to dismiss the INVITED couple from her stage. "Oh, no no. My apologies, I don't know what came over me. I just got lost in the moment" Kimiko stuttered, trying to regain the original guests on her show.
"Well then, why don't we excuse ourselves so you can resume your scheduled interview." Kyoko quickly replied, silently thanking Ayame as Ayame cast a sweet smile back at her, as Kyoko grabbed Sho and dragged him off stage, through backstage and down the hall to her dressing room and throwing him inside before slamming the door behind her.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Kyoko bellowed, anger flaring around her as her cast members backed away from the door, deciding it was better not to ask them how it went for now.
Sho stood tall before Kyoko, refusing to back down to her now that she started the fight. "What do you mean what was that? It was exactly as it sounded. There was no way we were going to get away without telling the world we knew each other before. The whole situation wouldn't make sense otherwise. "
"Forget that!" Kyoko retorted, "You know exactly what I'm referring to. What do you mean you're in love with me. Is that some kind of sick joke?!" she screamed back, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she crossed her arms around her, attempting to calm and soothe herself from her rage.
"I'd never lie about that" Sho whispered as he steeled himself against her tears and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her before she could unwrap hers and push him away. "I'm sorry, this is not how I wanted to tell you and not when I wanted to tell you. I'm sorry that I hurt you so much before that you can't even accept love from anyone now and that you think I'd just make some sort of sick joke at your expense. I don't want you to say anything to me now, just please give me a chance to make this all up to you."
Silence filled the air as Sho squeezed her tight one time before placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head before releasing her and walking past her to the door, never looking down into her eyes. Stopping with his hand on the door, Sho sighed as he called back to her. "I'll go find out what the plan is for the rest of Box R filming so you can take a few minutes. I hope you'll at least let me take you out for dinner tonight so we can talk more."
As the door clicked closed behind him, Kyoko crumbled to the floor, shock winning out over her willpower as tears silently fell from her eyes.
Don't hate me . More questions will be answered soon. You will learn who the mystery woman is very soon I promise!