Chapter 14

Turning Tides

Is It True?

Rumor has it that the beautiful blonde in the photo seen with Avery Auberon, CEO of Mystic Entertainment, is his daughter Chouko and the girlfriend of the ever elusive and mysterious Kuon Hizuri who has been missing for almost 7 years. Our sources tell us that they were witness to a touching reunion between father and daughter and overheard the reference to the Hollywood bad-boy. So.. What do you think? Follow her and maybe we'll find him? This reporter will let you know when he finds out.

Above the article that sat on Lory's desk was a photo of the disguised Kyoko and her father's heartfelt reunion in the little French restaurant. Lory laughed at how well she was hidden. He never even suspected that she was that good but yet, there she was in stunning color with blonde hair and green eyes. It was a disguise that could rival Jelly's talents. He was ecstatic that the girl had been able to conquer the terrible trials set forth by life with her mother and father. He was even a little shocked about the revelation of her relationship with Kuon in the article and the little heart decorated, diamond studded promise ring that adorned her left ring finger. At the sight of that, Lory had nearly had a stroke. She had never mentioned any progress between the two, much less anything as big as this. Albeit it was only a promise ring but, it was just two steps away from a wedding and honeymoon. Lory shivered at the prospects. He quickly grabbed his little black book and leafed through to the desired pages. He picked up his phone then dialed.

RING... RING... RING...

"Hey boss.." The sleepy voice answered.

"Kuu! How ya been?"

"Good. Julie's been mentoring a future talent lately so, I've been working round the clock so I don't miss her so much." Kuu groused.

"New talent?"

"Yeah, she won't tell me who though. Says she met her through her agency's boss."

"Ah well.. anyway. I'm going to send you an article about your other son. I think you'll find it interesting. Make sure you look at her hand in the picture really close."

"..."

"Call me back after you read it." Lory finished with a sly tone to his voice.

"Alright. Talk later." Kuu finished and Lory quickly faxed him a copy of the article with Kyoko's picture with a red circle drawn around her hand and an enlarged view of the finger with the ring enlarged at the bottom of the photo.

Sho shivered as he read through the gossip magazine article and stared intently at the photo of the blonde goddess that he had the brush with. She must be an American model or, something. He surmised. I bet I could get her to warm up to me. Her boyfriend isn't that famous. He hasn't been in circulation in almost 7 years. He's gotta be a nobody now. Those American beauties are always fickle when it comes to guys. I could get her on my arm in a heartbeat. He thought delusionally to himself.

"ho...Sho! Snap out of it! You have an interview in 20 minutes!" Shoko Aki snarled in an aggravated tone.

"Ugh! Fine.. I'll be right there." He answered in frustration then slammed the magazine onto the coffee table in front of him then stomped out of the room to go to his interview.

"Oh god Ren! I am soooo sorry!" She howled over the phone. "I didn't mean for this to happen! What about your image? What if they find out?" She blubbered and sobbed into the little pink phone.

Kuon sighed then chuckled. "Kyoko.. It's okay. Besides.. How on Earth would that ruin my image? You look every bit as beautiful in the picture that you always do. Any man would be proud to have you on their arm." He smiled into the phone and she started to calm with little sobs every now and then.

"I'm sorry. I just thought they would find out before you were ready." She told him in a small voice.

"It's okay Princess. They won't find out before I tell you what I want to, Okay?" He told her gently with words caressing her ears through the phone line. "When I get back, I want you to meet me at the airport so we can spend the day together. I'm ready to tell you everything. Alright?"

"Okay. I love you Kuon." She sighed.

"Don't forget to wear your disguise. Wouldn't want everyone to think I'm cheating on my girlfriend with The Kyouko. Now would we?" He teased. She groaned. He chuckled. "I love you and I'll see you tomorrow. My flight comes in at 9 am." He kissed into the phone and hung up on a furiously blushing Kyoko.

She flopped back onto her futon and stared at the ceiling then giggled at the situation. "Hmph, not so plain and boring anymore, am I?" She shook off the thought and smiled widely, then ran ideas through her mind on what to wear for their reunion tomorrow. Who knew that being a princess was going to be so difficult?

"So.. You keep up to date with the latest gossip, don't you Sho-san?" the interviewer asked intently.

Sho tensed up thinking of the way the blonde goddess shot him down. "I would like to say I keep pretty informed about things that go on in the business." He answered in a mature tone.

"So what do you think about Chouko? You know.. Avery Auberon's daughter." The sly woman hinted.

"Hmm, not sure. Never met her." He lied.

"Really?" She continued as a picture that seemed as though it was taken with a cell phone popped up on the screen behind them. It was a photo of Chouko flashing her promise ring at him with an expressionless look on her face. Sho winced. "Are you sure you've never met her?"

"Fine.. I was being nice. She was a rude little snob." Sho barked then froze at his outburst.

The interviewer raised an eyebrow at his childish comment. Now she was getting a pound of flesh on this boy. She knew he wasn't as charismatic as he pretended to be. "Looks to me, in the picture, that she was letting you know she had a boyfriend. You know.. there are some other rumors that have been going around about you regarding another starlet that I would like to touch on. Maybe the rumors about Kyouko? Rumor has it that she's Tsuruga Ren's girlfriend and you've been harassing her too."

Something in Sho's brain snapped and he spit out, "She's not dating that pinhead!" He knew it was a mistake as soon as it happened but, couldn't help it.

The interviewer's brow shot up in interest and Shoko Aki rushed onto the stage of the live interview and pulled Sho with her.

"What the hell is wrong with you! Do you know what kind of damage you've done to your image!" Shoko spat out as she slammed the driver's side door of her car and buckled in. Sho just sat in shock with his head in hands wondering how on Earth he was going to get out of the mess that he created for himself.

Kyoko sat stunned staring at the television as her phone rang with the number of her best friend flashing across the little screen. On the other end was a giddy, ecstatic Moko-san laughing hysterically at an idiot's public downfall.