Chapter 38

Shou looked at his watch for the third time in the last five minutes. He glared towards the changing room that held Kyoko and one his Agency's make-up people, he didn't care which one. Only that they were taking forever. "Aren't you done yet? Keiko's probably already done filming and waiting by now."

"She takes more time to get ready than I do…Why am I in here again? I can get dressed on my own, without betraying my own company." Kyoko's voice was muffled, like she was speaking through a straw.

"Stop talking, or it will take even longer."

The door opened and Kyoko glowered out, lipstick smeared across her one cheek, "Than stop asking questions."

"Just hurry up." She glared at him and slammed the door again. He glanced at his watch once more, "And the reason why you're here is because Keiko had already texted the information about your disguise to my manager, so it didn't make sense for you to go elsewhere."

He glanced at his watch once more. He never waited on girls, they waited on him. He was contemplating just ditching her and meeting up with Keiko when he heard a screech. The make-up person scuttled out with a bundle under her arms and watched him nervously, "She's ready…"

"No I'm not!" The woman jumped and bowed before she ran down the hallway. He looked towards to see a woman storming out, "I don't know what Keiko is thinking, but I can find my own clothing. This is just ridiculous. Where did she take my clothes?"

He blinked at her, "Kyoko?"

A fox looked at him, annoyed. "Yeah, I'm not going back in there."

He shook his head in disbelief. He knew that Kyoko could clean up well when she put her mind to it, he had been in the room when Box R was on… but this… "Keiko is trying to get you laid."

"Shou!" She flustered, looking down at her outfit, "This is too much. Where did she go? I want my own clothes back."

He was still stuck on reboot mode. Kyoko's hair had to be a wig, yet it looked natural – well, as natural as shimmering greenish blue highlights could look. She had long brunette hair that cascaded down her back, her bangs styled so that they framed her eyes, which would have made her eyes pop even without the dark eye makeup. Her contacts were blue, yet did not look odd. Her lips shimmered with gloss, her left ear decorated with silver jewellery. She looked like the cover of a magazine, without the Photoshop.

Even with all that, it was the dress that had Shou regretting any bad word he said about Kyoko's appearance. Her black dress framed her silhouette perfectly, with cut outs that revealed that the little girl he grew up with was no longer without curves. It was clear that the mandatory work out sessions she was doing for the movie were paying off, because there wasn't any misplaced fat anywhere that he could see. And he could see quite a bit, for the dress was just toeing the line between classy and being floozy, the shapes cut out were artistically done. The type of dress that made it impossible for her to have a wardrobe malfunction, but that didn't mean any guy that saw her tonight wasn't hoping for one.

"You have no back." Clearly speaking was still not an option for him.

"Yeah, like I said, I can find my own clothes. Or at least a jacket… she does realize it's getting colder out at night, right?" Kyoko stared at Shou, who was still unresponsive, "Shou."

He blinked, and rolled back his shoulders, and revealed a cocky smirk, "She has a plan… she's kind of stubborn about sticking to plans."

She slumped down, "I know."

"So give her what she wants…who knows, maybe it'll help you figure out what you want." Shou passed by her and grabbed the purse that the make-up person had left behind to complete the ensemble. He passed it to Kyoko, who slung it on her shoulder reluctantly.

"Well," She sighed, "let's get it over with."

"That's the sincere enthusiasm I am looking for." Shou nudged her towards the exit, "Come on. How bad could it be?

It was bad. Keiko had made it her personal mission to make sure that Kyoko got sloshed enough that she couldn't even remember her own name, let alone her problems. They were currently on the dance floor, having sent Shou to get the next round of drinks, Keiko specifically making sure that he made Kyoko's drink a double. He pulled his baseball cap down tighter against his brow, praying that there wasn't any paparazzi around. Or cops. He still was trying to figure out if it was cool that Keiko knew which bartenders didn't check IDs.

He grabbed the drinks, slipping an extra bill to the bartender. When he turned around, Keiko was alone on the floor, dancing it up by herself. He made his way through the crowd, showing up behind her, "You seem a little young to be alone in a place like this."

She turned around with a coy smile, "Well, my boyfriend takes good care of me." She took one of the drinks from him and swallowed it with a grimace, "Urgh, no more. This stuff is disgusting."

"You seemed to be handling it pretty well." Shou commented as he knocked backed the other one. She took his hand and led him to a quieter corner of the club.

"Acting," She admitted, "My experience with alcohol comes from one house party that got busted early. Tonight I tossed most of the drinks onto the floor."

"Yet you let Kyoko drink doubles? My girlfriend is a little bit devious." He smirked, and she blinked innocently back at him.

"She needs to let loose… I just figured alcohol would give her the courage to do what she needs to."

Shou looked around, "And where did our courageous ranger go?

Keiko giggled, "I may have given her a bit of a hint what she should do with that courage."

Her boyfriend scrambled to catch for a moment then looked over towards the exit, "Lord help him."

"Yup. Because any guy who resists her in that dress, would be a saint." She grinned and tugged him back towards the dance floor.

Kyoko wasn't as wasted as she Shou and Keiko believed she was. She had noticed Keiko not drinking about three shots in and had stopped drinking as much afterwards. "If she can act, I can act." She muttered from the back of the cab, causing the cab driver to look into his review mirror. He wondered if he had picked up another crazy person.

Keiko did have a point though, even if she wasn't being as subtle about it as she thought she was. "I should confront my problems, one by one. Squash those who refuse." The cab driver was casually searching the closest police station in the GPS.

The actress sat up straight in the taxi, "Stop here." She tossed him some money and got out. "Yup, this is going to happen." She muttered as she walked towards Tsuruga's apartment building.

Tsuruga sank down with a glass of whiskey in his hand and leaned his head on the back of the couch. He was not looking forward to tomorrow. He didn't know what to do to fix things. Kyoko…his parents…her mother…there were a lot of secrets that were revealed today.

He was contemplating just going to bed when the doorbell rang. He glanced at the clock before opening the door, and what he saw almost made him wish that he hadn't answered it. Kyoko was standing there, in a sexy dress, smelling of alcohol, and a wig dangling from her hand.

"Kyoko…"

"May I come in?" She asked quietly, and without hesitation he stepped to the side to let her pass.

She waited until he closed the door before asking, "I have a couple of questions for you, if you don't mind. How you answer them depends on what actions I take."

"Have you been drinking?"

"Yes. The secrets you kept…were they for my benefit, or for your own?"

"Some of them were for you, some for myself. I've been in the business of secrecy long before I met you." He sat back down on the couch, facing her as she paced.

"When you re-met me." She clarified.

He closed his eyes, "Yes."

"Did you know it was me since the beginning?" She asked and he shook his head.

"Your name… I didn't know until after I saw Corn again. If you recall, it wasn't exactly the best circumstances of a reunion."

She frowned, "Yes, that makes sense. And over the last two years, you decided that it would be better, for both our happiness, if you kept silent. Instead of Kyoko Mogami and Corn meeting, that it would be better for Kyoko to fall in love with Tsuruga Ren."

"More like…for Tsuruga Ren to try and not fall even more deeply in love with his kouhai." He replied slowly, causing her to laugh bitterly.

"Sure, because every person falls in love with a revenge focused maniac."

"No, but a driven person who is focused on succeeding in something she was passionate, that's not hard to fall in love with."

Focusing her energy on not blushing, she continued on her questions, "My mother. When did you find that one out?"

"I didn't have the opportunity to meet your mother when we were younger, so I didn't learn it until just before you did. I thought I was just trying to protect you from a horrible manager."

She stopped her pacing, "Protection would have been more helpful if I had known."

"You make excuses for those around you, Kyoko. If someone hurts you, you defend them. You're the most selfless revenge driven person I have ever met."

"I don't mean to," She whispered, "Childhood stuff really effects how you deal with stuff."

"Yeah, well, join the club of childhood misfits." He took a sip from his whiskey, and her face softened.

"Something happened in your past that hurt you, huh."

He winced, "I think tonight we can keep to your childhood issues. Mine needs its own night."

"Shoot I could use the distraction right now. Focusing on someone else's issues would be nice right now."

He grinned, "I could distract you. Want to have another sparring match? There's a gym downstairs."

She frowned, "I'm in the mind frame of grabbing you by the collar…to do what I'm still not certain."

He blinked, and she reddened, "I…That …um….Sorry…you were saying…"

He stood up, "I think I'll get you a robe…that dress leaves…a lot to the imagination… "

She got up as well and started self-consciously tugging it down, "Oh, Keiko had this stupid idea and forced Shou to get a make-up artist from his company to dress me up…."

"Shou saw you like this?"

"Well, yeah, that's who I was out with tonight…him and Keiko…" She laughed slightly, "He must be feeling bad for what I'm going through. He didn't say a single insult when I came out of the change room."

Tsuruga's eyes flashed, "Isn't he dating your sister?"

"She's not my sister! I mean, yes, but…Not…Not really…That would mean…" She shook her head, staring at him in frustration. "Still good on that distraction idea?"

"What—" Tsuruga's eyes widened slightly as Kyoko grabbed hold of his collar and pulled him towards her, locking lips. He closed his eyes and started to wrap his arms around her when he remembered that small fraction of stupid sense that he had. It took all he had to pull himself away and take a step back.

She frowned and crossed her arms, "Is this to protect yourself or to protect me?"

"You. You've been out drinking, and had a hard day. I don't want you to regret anything tomorrow." He told her firmly.

"And why do you think I'll regret it?" She asked challengingly.

"I don't know…because I can hurt you. I can leave you, just like your mother. The moment that I'm discovered for who I am, I have no idea what will happen. There isn't a future with me." He told her.

"I don't believe that…I don't believe any of that. You…you're doing that thing where you avoid potential happiness." She replied, standing in front of him. "Kuon…we've both been hurt. And we will probably hurt each other at some point again, but I don't care…because you make me happy. You make me want to succeed, to become a better person."

He stared at her, "Kyoko, I am at my limit right now. If I had my selfish way, I would bring you into that bedroom and not let you leave."

She froze. "What?"

Kuon took a step towards her, "You are in a man's apartment, without anyone else nearby. You are wearing a dress that while is beautiful on you, accentuates every piece of you that I would love to examine thoroughly, intimately. Once I have you, I will not be able to let you go and it will be really hard to explain to everyone why we are both missing from set tomorrow morning."

She laughed shakily, "You wouldn't wreck your perfect attendance for me."

"Kyoko, I would destroy my entire career as Tsuruga Ren if it meant that you were happy and safe…" He whispered to her, "And right now, the way I am, who I am, safe is as far away from me as possible."

She shook her head, "It's funny, because you seem to think I'm safest away from you, but right now, the way I am, who I am and all the shit that's been happening in my life makes me believe that there is nowhere safer for me than by your side."

"Then we are at an impasse…" He breathed out, not feeling as confident in his statement after hearing those words. Kyoko seemed to know this too, for she straightened up, a more confident look in her eyes.

"I have an idea on how to settle the matter…" She said slowly as she once again took another step towards him.

"Oh, what's that?" He asked with curiousity.

She took another step towards him, until she was standing a hairs width away from him, "How about a sparring match? Winner takes all." She whispered seductively as she pulled his face towards her own once more. This time, the small fraction of stupid sense disappeared with little protest as his one arm wrapped around the small of her back to remove the space between them.