AUTHOR'S NOTE: I at least managed to finish it before I completely blew by my update date *laughs*...I wasn't entirely sure I'd make it ^^; The holiday season proved to be a lot more hectic than I thought it would be and I'm not nearly where I wanted to be by the time this update rolled around. However, I have finally figured out how many chapters this fiction will be and I'm hoping that I'll get on a good roll and be able to put it up in a timely manner.

That being said, this chapter turned out to be a bit longer and to cover more ground than I initially intended. It's also a little rougher than what I usually like to put up, I am probably going to find about fifty mistakes that I'll have to correct when I go through it thoroughly, but I think it's at least readable ^_^

Thank you for your patience and for taking the time to read (and review if you get a chance) my story.

I'm looking at returning to the bi-weekly update again, which means the next chapter should drop around 01/20/16.

Chapter Thirteen: Sunsets and Realizations

"Ready to go?"

Kyoko jumped and turned to face Alex who emerged from the door way wearing pair of faded jeans and a red Tokyo University t-shirt. A feathering of blond hair screened one of his gray-green eyes from her and he smiled. "Where is Mia?" Kyoko asked.

"She's discussing business with big brother," Alex said. "It'll just be me showing you around…if that's all right? If you'd prefer I can ask Syo or one of the others to come as well?"

Kyoko hesitated for a moment, inexplicably nervous about spending time with just Alex though he'd been nothing but a gentleman. Alex chuckled, pulling out his red cell phone and sending out a message. Syo appeared moments later having also changed out of his slacks and button-down into a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt depicting a stylized version of the World Tree. Kyoko felt herself relax minutely with the appearance of the other man and Alex opened the door for her. "Shall we?"

Kyoko nodded and exited the house with the two men following her. Syo's longer strides took him a few steps ahead of her and Alex, but knowing he was there made her feel better. "How long have you lived here, Akizaki-san?" she asked.

"The house has been in my family for generations," Alex said. "My father was a diplomat in the US where he met my mother and married her. His parents weren't entirely thrilled with it, but they eventually relented. I actually only lived here during the summers when I was in elementary school and junior high. We moved permanently to Japan in the autumn after I turned fifteen. Have you always lived in Tokyo?"

Kyoko shook her head. "I spent most of my life in Kyoto working at a ryokan."

She nearly kicked herself at that admission that was not something she wanted to talk about here.

"Oh, which one?" Syo asked curiously.

"Ah…nothing you would probably know," she hedged.

"Try me?" the brunette chuckled.

She shook her head fiercely and both men looked at her in surprise. "My concern is only with the future. I don't talk about the past," she stated flatly.

Startlement passed over their features, but they acquiesced to her refusal and the topic shifted to historical stories that Alex had heard based around the area. "Where will we be filming tomorrow?" Kyoko asked. "The script gives a location, but not any details about it."

"Oh, there's a period drama being filmed near here and they have a recreation of a feudal Japanese village for their set. They're not using it for the next couple weeks and decided to rent it out to interested parties so that it's not just racking up maintenance fees," Alex replied. "We had to move quickly to get a slot when the announcement hit."

"Does your brother own that too?" Kyoko asked, it seemed like the elder Akizaki had his fingers in everything and it wouldn't surprise her if the answer was yes.

Alex giggled, Kyoko could think of no other word for it other than that, before responding, "Oh, gods, no. They did initially try and convince Ryuen to let them build it on our property, but he turned them down flat. It's situated just on the outer edge of our land, which makes it convenient for our shoot tomorrow. Let's go this way, you've got to see the view from up there, it's amazing!"

Alex lightly grasped her forearm and tugged her in the direction of what looked like a narrow line of dirt that vanished into the trees. Kyoko followed, listening to Alex talk about how he and his sister used to sneak into the woods to avoid chores and roused the wrath of their elder brother.

"Mia-san did that?" Kyoko gasped.

Alex grinned. "Even Mi' had a rebellious stage, although honestly I think she went along more to make sure I stayed out of trouble than to avoid the chores," he said.

There was the sound of rocks tumbling down and Kyoko's eyes shot ahead to see Syo scrambling up the path ahead. The assistant had only added in an occasional comment here and there during the course of the trip seeming content to let Alex, and sometimes Kyoko, do all the talking. "It gets a little steep here," Alex said. "You go up first. Syo will help you and I'll spot you from down here so you don't get hurt. I don't want to face the wrath of Takarada-san or Tsuruga-san if anything happened to you."

"You know Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko gaped.

Alex chuckled and shook his head. "By reputation only," he said, "but I did get a very terse message from him via Mi's phone just before the shoot."

"Why would he…" Kyoko trailed off.

"You're his kouhai or at least that's what Mia explained after I got the message," Alex said.

Kyoko nodded slowly and began to scramble up the cliff and caught Syo's proffered hand and the dark-haired man hauled her up the last bit. As soon as her feet landed on solid earth, her eyes went to the ocean spread out beyond the edge of the cliff they'd just found and she watched as the sun began to set. Her mouth rounded in an 'O' of awe and she turned to exclaim about it to her companions and saw the taller man place a light kiss in the middle of Alex's palm with an infinitely gentle smile and her cheeks burned and she whirled away quickly, nearly tripping in her haste.

She was saved from tumbling headfirst down the cliff by Alex's quick reflexes and he steadied her. "Are you all right, Kyoko-san?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine," Kyoko said firmly.

"Sometimes things need to be kept secret and, in our business, that's okay," Alex said musingly and then turned to meet Kyoko's eyes. "As long as those close to you know what's important. Isn't the sunset spectacular from here?"

"Yes, it is," Kyoko agreed and pulled out her cell phone and snapped a picture then sent it to Tsuruga-san as she settled on the ground next to Alex and his PA to watch the sun vanish into its watery bed.

The following morning, Kyoko went downstairs to join Mia for breakfast and found herself directed into the kitchen where she saw an unfamiliar blond man standing at the stove. The twins Kyoko had seen briefly the day before were already ensconced at the table with a pancake topped with something that looked like cinnamon apples. "Do you mind pancakes, Mogami-san?" the man at the stove inquired.

Kyoko looked startled. "No, I don't, but I can…"

The man at the stove turned to look at her and smiled, the edges of his brown eyes crinkling with humor. "Guests do not cook in my home, Mogami-san," he said firmly.

"Oooh…Ryuen's cooking breakfast this morning!"

Kyoko turned and saw Alex tumble into the kitchen with Syo not too far behind him and heard the man at the stove chuckle. "I've already got the cherry topping for your pancakes made, I wasn't sure when you'd make it down," he said. "Mogami-san, do you prefer apples or cherries?"

"Apples…" Kyoko said slowly.

"Perfect, I'll have your plate up in a moment," Ryuen Akizaki said and turned his attention back to the stove.

A glass of orange juice was set down in front of Kyoko and she turned to see Mia in a frilly white apron that seemed at odds with the professionalism Kyoko thought of when it came to her manager. "Big brother always cooks breakfast when he's home," Mia explained. "I learned how to make pancakes from him and right now you're in the middle of Akizaki Family Time—things are a bit more relaxed then."

"Can I help ye with anything, Ryuen?"

Syo's spoke in English, his accent heavier than when Kyoko first heard him speak.

"I've got it Sioghnal, just make sure Alex gets the dogs fed before you head out to the site," Ryuen said.

"Aye, will do," Syo responded.

Kyoko had a hard time wrapping her mind around the bustling family kitchen and wistfully wondered if this was something people who had a more normal background than she did experienced every day. She brought herself to argue a little with Ryuen and at least secure the ability to help with the breakfast dishes before she, Alex, Mia, and Syo piled into a car driven by a man that Alex said worked with the Akizakis for over twenty-five years.

They reached the site and got out of the car and were met by Kaho Mashiro. "We have a problem, Alex," she said gravely.

Alex cocked his head. "What's going on?"

"Apparently the site manager double-booked today and there's a production crew from Queen Records here. They're arguing that they had the reservation first and that we should find somewhere else to go, but we had our site fee paid first," Kaho answered.

Alex darted a glance at Mia who changed into one of her normal business suits before they headed out and the blond manager nodded. "I'll go talk to them and see if we can reach a compromise. Kyoko-san only has today to film because we're due at the Windows set tomorrow at nine sharp and the release date for this video was set in stone weeks ago and the publicity blitz kicked off yesterday."

"Queen Records?" Kyoko repeated faintly.

"Yeah, someone named Sho is filming a PV here too…"

"Shotarou…" the words escaped in a low snarl before Kyoko could stop them. "Does he have to ruin everything I do?"

She slapped her hand on her shoulder to quiet the grudge that popped out and took a deep breath. "Elegant. Calm. Serene. Graceful."

She repeated the four words like a mantra trying to assemble the public face that she had worked with Sachiko to put together. She couldn't let Shotarou ruin this for her and she would show the arrogant rock star just how far she'd come from that PV set over a year ago.

When she glanced up she turned bright red as she realized that she'd spoken aloud and that everyone around her heard her words. "I, uh, it's…" she stumbled.

"You're looking for the future not locked in the past, right?" Alex said with a smile.

Kyoko's eyes widened as a variation of her own words the night before were given back to her. She nodded. "Yes," she said.

Mia returned several minutes later with a satisfied look in her eyes. "I reached a compromise with the other crew. The village is big enough we each only need about half of it and we can work around each other. Though they apparently want to meet with all of us to make sure we're all on the same page."

"Do I have to?" Kyoko asked and then shook her head and squared her shoulders. "Of course I have to. I'm an actress, a professional. Meeting up from time to time can't be helped."

Mia nodded approvingly. "Yes, you are," she stated.

Alex glanced in question at his sister, but Mia shook her head.

Kyoko relaxed when she realized that Mia wasn't going to tell her brother about the deeper problems with this.

The group made their way to the central square of the village where the other group was arrayed and to Kyoko it almost felt like two hostile armies meeting under a flag of truce. Belatedly she realized that Queen Records was probably a rival to whatever label that Alex was on and it really could be two rival organizations meeting.

At the front of the group was a tall figure she knew all-too-well and it took all her willpower to keep the grudges down. "So this is the guy that thinks he can take our spot?" Sho Fuwa asked and swaggered across the square to meet with Alex.

Kyoko watched in shock as Sho's expression crumbled from arrogance into shock as the other musician met him. "No way…" Sho said.

He seemed to momentarily forget himself and for a second Kyoko was sure she saw wide-eyed admiration on her childhood friend's face before he controlled it. Alex, however, simply offered a hand. "Good morning, Fuwa-san," he said courteously. "It seems that things just got complicated. I'm grateful that you and your people are willing to work with us on this; we're all on a tight schedule. Shall we get this worked out so we don't have too long of a production delay?"

Mia and Kaho moved to stand next to Alex as Sho's manager and the person who was presumably directing the video on Sho's side also joined them. The discussion seemed to last for hours though it was only minutes and while Kyoko focused on a quiet conversation with Syo and a few others in the group, she could almost feel a pair of blue eyes burning into her. Finally hands were shaken and the three returned to the group. "We'll have to try and get this all done by sunset. The director for Fuwa-san's video needs the west side of the village for the final pieces of the video," Kaho said and glanced at the crew. "Do we have this?"

"Yes," the crew chorused.

Kaho smiled. "Excellent. Alex, Kyoko-san please head off to the trailer for wardrobe and make-up while we get everything set up."

"I see that they finally found the perfect role for a plain girl like you."

The words were sneered from behind Kyoko about mid-way through the filming and she stiffened, taking a deep breath to infuse herself with calm instead of whirling on the arrogant boy behind her and letting him have the full brunt of her temper. The grudges whispered in her ears tempting her to just lash out as she always did, but Kyoko needed to maintain her public persona even with this person.

Kyoko smoothed the worn kimono that was her costume for this shoot and shoved the long lengths of black hair back behind her shoulders before turning to face him. "Isn't it though?" she asked, a smile curving her lips. "I'm a princess of noble lineage whose beloved family was slaughtered during an uprising and forced to make my way in a village far from home on my own."

Kyoko cocked her head just a bit. "Sounds kind of familiar doesn't it? Sort of anyway…" she said.

"How the hell did you wind up in one of his videos?" Sho demanded, his eyes going to where Alex was working through one of his solo scenes.

"Akizaki-san saw some previous work of mine and thought I'd be suitable for this video," Kyoko said, she was surprised at the steady calmness of her own voice.

"Do you even know who he is?" Sho asked looking at her as if she'd grown two heads.

"He's a musician?" Kyoko suggested.

Sho glared at her. "No kidding," he snorted and shook himself. "Of course you wouldn't know who he is, but no matter what he won't take my place on the Oricon charts."

"Kyoko-san, are you all right?"

Alex's voice and Kyoko turned to see the other musician approaching them. For his role in the video Alex wore a long black wig and a kimono that suited a person of high standing in the time they were portraying. "I'm fine, this guy here decided to come over and watch," Kyoko said.

"Do you like the costuming?" Alex inquired.

Sho glared at Alex for a moment and turned his back to the two so Kyoko couldn't read his face. "Even if you picked her up from one of my videos, you're not going to take my spot on the Oricon chart," he declared.

"One of your videos?" Alex repeated the words slowly. "You had something to do with Ring Doh?"

"What the hell is that?" Sho asked, turning to look at them. "You picked her out of my Prisoner PV."

Alex looked confused. "Which video was that?"

"The one with the angels and the demons…" Sho sputtered.

Alex blinked. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with that one. I'll have to look it up when I get home. Kyoko-san, we're ready for you on set, shall we?"

Alex offered a hand and Kyoko took it and then let it go as they made their way to the set they were needed on. Kyoko could almost feel Sho's fuming, but didn't look back.

The rest of the video went off without a hitch, even the last scene where Kyoko was required to have a long kiss with Alex and when the clapperboard fell they parted. Alex smiled at her. "Thank you very much for obliging me in this," he said.

At some point during the filming Sho had been pulled back to his own work and by the time the crew for Sho's video came to claim the area, most of their stuff was packed up and Kyoko was back in her regular clothing and chatting with Syo, Alex, and Mia while the crew got the last bits together.

"After the final cut is finished, I'll let you know, maybe we can watch it all the way through for the first time together," Alex suggested. "I had a lot of fun doing this."

"I did too," Kyoko smiled. "I think it'd be fun to see."

Alex glanced at Syo and the PA extracted a card from the case in his pocket and handed it to Kyoko. "It's my number and e-mail in case you need to get a hold of me," Alex said.

Just as Sho arrived on the set Kyoko finished her good-byes to the cast and crew and slid into the back seat of the car Mia had gone back to get when they broke for lunch. They pulled away from the set and Kyoko pulled out the script for the first part of the filming tomorrow. "What do you feel like eating tonight?" Mia inquired.

"Would it be terrible if I said I'd rather be home and fix myself something tonight?" Kyoko inquired.

She saw Mia's blond head shake. "No, not at all. You will be eating though right?"

"I have some groceries that I got just before we left that probably need to be used up," Kyoko replied.

"All right."

Mia dropped her off at her building and got out of the car as Kyoko grabbed her bags. "I'll get these up on my own," Kyoko assured her manager.

"Get to bed at a decent time tonight, Mogami-san," Mia ordered her. "I'll be here to pick you up at 7 AM to make sure we get to the set on time."

"I will," Kyoko smiled. "Thank you."

The two parted and Kyoko headed inside only to draw up short at the sight of a blond form standing in front of the elevator that led up to her apartment. "Tsu…Hizuri-san," she stumbled over the address.

"Kuon," Ren Tsuruga reminded her with a soft smile. "Welcome home, Kyoko."

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Akizaki-san said to expect you home around this time," he said. "I was just going to call you to see how things went with the filming, but decided I'd rather see you instead. You don't mind?"

Kyoko shook her head slowly. "No, I don't mind," she said. "Have you eaten yet?"

"I had a rice ball from the convenience store earlier," he said, hitting the button that would bring the elevator to them.

"Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko exclaimed and then clapped her hands over her mouth and looked frantically around.

Ren picked up her luggage and guided Kyoko firmly into the elevator when it arrived and shut the door. "I don't think there was anyone around to hear that," he said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't…" Kyoko began.

Ren placed a long finger on her lips and shook his head. "No apologies, Kyoko," he said. "Just try and be more careful."

She nodded and they exited the elevator and went to her small apartment.

Kyoko opened the door and Ren preceded her in, putting her luggage down and looking around as if expecting trouble, but finding none. Kyoko flipped on the lights and headed for the kitchen to pull out the ingredients for dinner.

Ren followed Kyoko into the kitchen and started up a conversation about how things with the video went and was surprised by Kyoko's almost exuberant response. They chatted back and forth for a while and he set the table for them while Kyoko served the food. Finally they sat down at the table and Kyoko looked at Ren from across the table.

"Did you really just come to see me?" Kyoko asked him.

Ren started to nod but then reached inside his pocket. "That was most of the reason, but also…"

He trailed off and his hand emerged and a gold chain tumbled from his hand with a familiar pendant at the end.

"Princess Rosa?" Kyoko gasped. "How…"

"It finally turned up in one of the pawn shops that Akizaki-san distributed the pictures to," Ren replied.

"Then did they…"

"No," Ren said. "The necklace was sold to the pawnshop through someone that wasn't related to the crime, they have a solid alibi for that night and insist that they found the necklace. The person that wrecked your room is still at large, but they figured they had enough pictures and evidence to return it to you. The PI said that he'll continue to try and find out who was behind it."

He rose from the table and moved around and slipped the necklace back into its proper place around her neck and pressed a light kiss to the top of her head. "We'll have to get a proper setting for it someday."

Kyoko's hand wrapped around the jewel and she shook her head. "I like it just the way it is."

End Notes for this Chapter: I don't usually do end notes, but I want to explain something really quickly. While Kyoko knows Ren is Kuon Hizuri, she still thinks of him as Ren Tsuruga (and he's more Ren than Kuon to me as well *laughs*) because honestly people tend to default to the names they're first introduced to people by—I have many friends that I don't even realize who people are talking about when they reference them by their real name not the nicknames I know them best by.