Chapter Twenty One: Here Comes the Bride
"Ren, why is there a gap in your schedule this afternoon?" asked Yashiro as they strolled out of the studio where they had been shooting Ren's latest drama.
"I'm picking up Kyoko after one of her shoots so that she can get to class for a test," said Ren. "If I left it up to her, she would try to bike it and end up missing the test and getting injured. And I haven't seen her in two days."
"You miss her after only two days?" said Yashiro in wonder. "I knew you had it bad, but I didn't think it was this bad, Ren."
"You know exactly how bad it is, Yashiro," said Ren. He ran a hand through his hair, then shook it back into place. "We should pick up lunch on the way. She'll be upset if I don't eat."
"You aren't even dating her, and you're worried about upsetting her," chuckled Yashiro. "When are you going to tell her?"
"When she's legal," said Ren. "And the media won't rip her apart for being new. By then, she'll be established and have a reputation of her own. And then it won't matter as much that we have an age and experience gap, because she will have experiences that I don't."
"And no one will rap your knuckles for dating a minor," said Yashiro.
"I don't care about that," said Ren. "I mean, I do, but what's more important is that she is comfortable and safe and happy. Why are we even talking about this?"
"Because there's a gap in your schedule this afternoon that I didn't put there," said Yashiro. "It's upsetting to know that someone else has been tampering with my hard work."
"Probably the President," said Ren. He ducked into his car and started the engine. Yashiro scrambled to get into the car, despite knowing that Ren would never leave without him, even for Kyoko. Chaperoning was necessary if anyone saw them together. And Yashiro got to watch his favourite drama play out in front of him.
On the drive to Kyoko's set, Yashiro went over the schedule for the rest of the day. Ren acknowledged each item, asking clarifying questions about new projects, which Yashiro was happy to pull out of his briefcase and read out loud. Ren also asked about script changes for each one, and Yashiro went over all possible changes emailed to him, gloves firmly in place so as not to break the phone. By the time they reached the location, thy both had a better idea of what the rest of the day would look like.
Parking was easy; the security guards for the set knew Ren by sight and trusted that Japan's biggest star would have important business on the set of a manga adaptation rom-com starring the woman who was well known to be his friend-girlfriend-lover-secret wife-question mark. There were few other cars in the lot, and a cluster of managers were chatting by the makeup and wardrobe trailers. The two men stepped out of the car and looked around for the camera crew. Not spotting it, they decided that it would be safe enough to go down to the trailers and join the knot of people there.
They were halfway down the hill when the camera crew appeared along with the director and a few assistant directors. Following them were a few actors who Ren vaguely recognized from industry events and at the back, chatting arm in arm with Akira Yamada, came Kyoko. Ren stopped breathing for a moment.
Kyoko was wearing a white dress that whispered along the ground as she walked. Her hair – or rather, a wig that could have been her hair – was curled and pinned up under a long semi sheer white veil. In one hand, she carried a bouquet of red roses. She was smiling and laughing at something Yamada was saying to her. Ren's gut twisted.
"Ren, your face," said Yashiro.
"Right," said Ren, schooling his features into a relaxed smile. "Sorry. That was unexpected."
"She really looks like a young woman who just got married, doesn't she?" said Yashiro.
"She does," said Ren softly. The churning in his gut grew painful. "She looks so happy with him."
"You know that she didn't marry him for real, right?" said Yashiro, now seriously concerned for Ren, eyes wide behind glasses. "You know that this is part of the drama their filming, and that there's a good reason for her to be wearing the dress."
"I do know," said Ren. "She told me about it. She was so excited to get to wear a wedding dress, even if it's only for a playact in a drama. I just – I'm not dealing with this right now."
"You're right, you're not," said Yashiro, giving him a small push. "You're going down there and telling her that she looks beautiful and saying hello to Yamada and generally being a friendly person who isn't having a breakdown over a girl."
"I hate it when you put it that way," muttered Ren. He continued down the hill and over to the cast and crew of Velvet Blue Rose. Everyone was crowded around the monitor to see the footage that had been shot, so no one noticed him approach. He stayed a good distance back, not being part of the cast, and tried to ignore Yashiro greeting the other managers.
Kyoko looked up to say something to the director, and her eyes slid to the left as she spoke. Spotting Ren, her face lit up in the biggest smile he had ever seen her wear, and he couldn't help but smile back with just as much warmth. The knot in his stomach dissolved and the tightness in his chest eased. Kyoko excused herself from her costars and bounced over to where Ren was standing.
"Good afternoon, Ren," said Kyoko.
"Good afternoon," said Ren. "You look wonderful. The dress really suits you."
"Thank you," said Kyoko, a little shyly. "It's been such a good day, you know? The costume team was really worried that it wouldn't fit, but it does. I feel like a princess."
"Every girl is a princess on her wedding day, I suppose," teased Ren.
"Yes," agreed Kyoko. "I can see in the footage we shot that Ageha really feels the moment, even if it's only a mock-mock wedding."
"I'm glad that it went well," said Ren. Yamada came over, his expression open and friendly. "Yamada, good to see you again."
"Good to see you too, Tsuruga," said Yamada. "You did really well today, Kyoko. Acting opposite you is just so easy, it's like you pull the best out of everyone on set."
"I'm glad that everyone is giving their best," said Kyoko. "You did really well too. I'm glad we only had to do a few takes to get the scenes down."
"And the director said that it looks like we might not need to do reshoots," said Yamada. He turned to Ren. "This woman is amazing, I swear. I've never been on a set where everyone was having so much fun and still getting everything done ahead of schedule."
"She is amazing," agreed Ren. One of the crew members called Kyoko over.
"Excuse me," she said. "I need to take this dress off."
"By all means," said Ren. Kyoko grinned, bowed and was gone in a rustle of fabric and beading.
"Man, seeing her in the dress was something," said Yamada. "When she first stepped out, I mean. She just glowed. I hope she gets that for real one day."
"Is that so?" said Ren. "Well, she only glows like that when she's truly happy. She looked so beautiful."
"She did," agreed Yamada. "Tsuruga, listen. Kyoko's a great person and a fantastic actress. But I'm not going to make a move on her. I know when I don't have a chance."
"I'm sorry?" said Ren.
"She likes someone, I know that much for sure," said Yamada. "Maybe it's more than like, I don't know. But y'know, I also respect that you have feelings for her. I'd rather be your friend than your rival. Besides, like I said, I don't think I have a chance with her when all she seems to see is you."
Ren looked down and licked his lips. "It seems that everyone knows how I feel except her. But thank you. I appreciate you telling me that."
"I like being on good terms with people," said Yamada. "And I'm not one to get between two people who obviously want to be together. That's just drama villain stuff, and I don't think I'd play a good villain."
"Perhaps don't expand your acting skills using real life events," said Ren. "It's not like I don't have enough things holding me back."
"Age?"
"That's one factor," said Ren. "She's only eighteen."
Yamada clapped him on the shoulder. "She'll get older in time. I have faith that you two will work things out. Hey, you still have my number, right? We should go out for drinks sometime."
Ren thought for a moment. "I'd like that. I need to get out more."
"Great!" said Yamada. "I should head to wardrobe as well, get changed. I think I have to be at another set in an hour and it's on the other side of the city. Good seeing you Tsuruga."
"You too, Yamada," said Ren. "Good luck with your next shoot."
"Thanks!"
Yamada waved as he walked to the trailer with his name on it. Passing him on her way back was Kyoko, garment bag in hand and a glowing smile on her face. Ren's breath caught again as she headed to where he was still standing. He knew that Yashiro and a few other managers were watching with bated breath as the scene played out before them. There was no script to follow, no director to determine the way forward for him and her. Life was improv, and this scene had to be one of his best. He tried to fix his face, to hold back the love he was feeling – oh, that wasn't good enough, she saw something.
Kyoko was still beaming, though there was some confusion in her eyes. It occurred to him that she had said something and he had completely missed it. "I'm sorry, I just blanked. Could you repeat that?"
"Did you have a good day so far, Ren?" asked Kyoko. "You look like something really good happened and you can't stop thinking about it."
"I suppose that's true, something good did happen," said Ren. "Yamada and I might hang out sometime. It will be nice, since I don't really socialize and it has occurred to me that I need to have friends."
"It does get really lonely," agreed Kyoko. "Well, have fun and keep hangover cures in your bathroom."
"I'll do that," said Ren. "Though I'm fairly sure that I won't drink enough to need them. I do like being able to drive myself home."
"Please take cabs," said Kyoko, turning pleading eyes on Ren. "Your safety is important."
Ren sighed in mock defeat, since really that had been the plan he was working under. "I'll take the cabs. I don't want to make you sad."
There was a quiet cough from the gaggle of managers, breaking the scene. Ren and Kyoko flushed and turned to see them staring wide-eyed, Yashiro, snapping his phone closed and pulling off his gloves. Ren quickly rearranged his face to neutral-friendly rather than risk glowering at his mischievous manager in public. Yashiro smiled smugly and adjusted his glasses. Kyoko, still fighting down her blush, looked between the two men in confusion as she tried to read the implied conversation.
"If you'll pardon the intrusion," said Yashiro, "I believe that Miss Kyoko needs to be at her next shoot in twenty minutes. We really should get going."
"Thank you for the reminder, Yashiro," said Ren. He turned to Kyoko. "Do you want to stop off at your house to drop off that bag before you head to your next set?'
"That would be for the best," said Kyoko. "I don't want to forget it, or have someone damage it."
"Does that happen often?" asked Ren.
"Not really," shrugged Kyoko. "Usually in the first week of shooting, people play pranks on me. And then I make them look bad on set with my acting and they get over themselves."
"That sounds about right," said Ren. "Jealous people will do things like that."
"Ahem," said Yashiro.
"Right," said Ren. "We can talk in the car. It was lovely seeing all of you." That last was directed at the managers with a short bow. With a last wave to Yamada, Ren walked back up the path to his car, Kyoko chattering about the shoot and what came next and how she was really excited and really nervous about doing light romantic scenes beside him. He was listening to her, but there was a little thought that wouldn't leave him alone as he talked to her.
What if someone really did fall in love with her, and she left him alone again?