Chapter 10

Eye Of The Storm

He really didn't like seeing her like this, he might have even enjoyed it at some point a year ago but, he could see that it was tearing her up inside. He sighed and took her hand as they sat in his car at her next destination, LME, waiting for her to regain her composure.

"Kyoko..." He said gaining her attention. "I don't think he meant to say those things to you.."

She looked at him with a little shock. "But.."

"No, I wasn't exactly the type of person I would want someone to be around a year ago either." He sheepishly admitted.

"But you're not that way now.." She told him.

"No, I'm not, but he doesn't know that and if I were in his shoes, I would probably not want someone I care about around me either." He decided to plead Ren's case to her, she obviously saw him as a friend at some point. "I just don't want you to have this kind of anger in your heart. I know you can forgive him. You did Fuwa, right? I can tell." She no longer bristled at Sho's name when mentioned.

"But, this is different..." She weakly protested.

"You're right. It is.. I'll be right here for you. You aren't alone and you have friends. Don't let yourself lose the friend you obviously have in him because of a misunderstanding. Just consider it, okay?" He gently caressed the tension from the back of her neck as he explained.

She sighed deeply, "I'll think about it.."

"Good.." He smiled and kissed her cheek.

Her hand quickly shot up to the spot on her blushing face as she turned to look at him. "What was that for?"

"Because you are too cute." He chuckled. "and I wanted to take your mind off of all of this." He gave her a sly smile. It worked.

BZZT. BZZT.

He laughed at her reaction to her phone when it vibrated, "Too cute..".

She flipped it open to see the name of the caller. "Oh no.. It's Takarada-san.. He must be so angry with me for slapping Tsuruga-san." Her voice was filled with worry. "I just know he's going to fire me."

Reino shook his head. "He wouldn't fire you for something like that. You should probably answer though."

She nodded feeling a little fear as she brought the phone to her ear. "President?" with worry in her tone.

"Ah, Mogami-kun. Are you in the building yet?" He sounded cheery.

Her brow furrowed in confusion over his cheeriness. "Yes sir, I was just about to head in."

"Hmm, could you come up to see me as soon as you can?" He asked in a fatherly tone.

"Yes sir..." Yep, he's going to fire me...

"See you then." The line went silent.

"Do you want me to go with you?" He asked her gently.

She nodded. "You don't mind?" She was terrified and filled with resignation. "We'll have to stop at the front desk to get you a pass though."

He smiled, "Of course I don't mind. Well, we shouldn't keep your boss waiting."

"Yeah..." She mumbled.

"Oh.. I almost forgot." He gave her a sly smile as he reached into his back seat. "For you." He pulled out a single lavender, thorn-less, wrapped rose and presented it to her.

She took it and sniffed deeply, allowing the calming fragrance to cloud her mind. "Thank you."

He nodded and left the car to escort her into the building.

He sighed... again in the stifling silence of his manager's car with the words 'worse than Sho!' stampeding through his mind. She doesn't see me that way.. so how could I have made her feel that way? Ugh! This is so confusing! Damn it! She's more than just a kohai to me! Why can't I get that through her thick skull? Ugh, if that's not bad enough.. she had to tell him about her 'Fairy Prince'. Had it been anyone else... She knows for sure now. I should have told her in Guam. She'll never forgive me now.

Yashiro heard his charge let out yet another deep sigh of despair for the umpteenth time. Stubborn ass is going to let her slip away, isn't he...He's driving her right into that singer's arms with his temper. Threatening violence like that.. What was he thinking? She was more angry with Fuwa-san in Karuizawa than she was with the Beagle for that. You would think he would know her better than that after all the time he's spent with her...

"You need to apologize to her properly this time..." Yashiro told him.

Ren clenched his fist, "I know that." He growled as he leaned back into the headrest of the car seat and closed his eyes tightly. "I just don't know how..."

"We're here..Now try to calm down before we get to the President's office." Yashiro reminded him.

Ren nodded. He didn't need to be told twice, the last thing he wanted was an earful from the Boss too. He felt miserable enough with what Kyoko had said.

"Hi, Kyoko-chan." The receptionist greeted her sweetly. "Who do you have with you?"

"Um.. This is my guest today." She answered shyly.

"Oh, then sir.. I need you to sign in right here and I'll get you a guest pass." the young man looked really familiar but, she just couldn't put a finger on it.

"Ah Reino.. Reino? Oh, you're Reino? Um right then.. here's your pass." The receptionist blushed a little and was a little flustered. "Have a nice day Kyoko-chan."

"Thank you Takahashi-san." Kyoko waved back to her as she and Reino entered the elevator.

Reino smiled, "Seems like everyone here knows you."

"Heh, it's because of the Pink Curse." She gave a cute little growl.

"Pink Curse?" He was a little confused. He had never heard of anything of that nature.

She giggled and shook her head. "It's the uniform for the section I'm in. It's this horrible, bright pink cover-all that they make us wear. Kotonami-san, Amamiya-san and I have to wear it whenever we do our LoveMe tasks." She explained.

"LoveMe?" This sounds interesting.

"Oh, that's the name of our section. President Takarada made the section for talents that are lacking in certain aspects of love. He's really big on the idea that you have to love to get anywhere in the entertainment world." Now that she thought about it, she kind of agreed.

"He's right you know." Reino agreed. "He does have an interesting way of going about it though." He remembered seeing a dark haired girl wearing a hot-pink jumpsuit, he just didn't remember when.

DING!

"We're here." She announced as they left the elevator.

Reino was stunned by the sight of the doors to the office alone. They look like they belong to a castle throne room. "I'll wait out here for you, if you need me." He didn't want to intrude on something that may turn very personal so, he sat on the sofa outside of the large, richly carved mahogany doors and waited.

"Ren... Don't.." Yashiro warned as soon as they stepped off the elevator and saw Reino sitting on the sofa, quietly flipping through the messages on his phone.

"I won't." He grumbled. "I'm not a complete idiot."

"I was just reminding you." Yashiro informed him in a defensive tone.

"Hello, Tanaka-san. I have an appointment with the President." He told the receptionist trying to avoid any contact with the singer, staring straight at the receptionist with his fake smile plastered on.

"Ah Tsuruga-san, just have a seat and I will inform His Majesty." She giggled.

Ren chuckled, "So it's Henry the Eighth today? Thanks for the heads up."

She nodded and dialed the inner office. "Yes.. He's here right now. Yes Sir, I'll send him in." She set the phone back on it's cradle. "You may go in now Tsuruga-san."

Reino's eyes shot up to glance at Ren and watched, with worry, as the tall actor disappeared behind the large doors of the office.

Yashiro sat on the chair across from the sofa and sighed. This was taking a toll on his psyche. "He won't hurt her." He commented.

Reino looked back at him. "It's not physical hurt I'm worried about."

Yashiro nodded in agreement. He couldn't argue that one. The two men then settled into silence. One focused on his phone, the other on his day planner.