Chapter 36

This was getting severely irritating. 42 missed calls. She rolled her eyes and flipped through her phone to see if whomever it was (Creepy Reino) had at least left a message. No listed number and no message that could identify her mystery caller. She groaned in irritation once again. This has got to stop. She thought to herself as she pulled out her little notepad computer that Miki-san had given her several months ago and began pouring her thoughts onto it as her free-study class ticked on.

I really should be using this time for my studies, but this situation is really getting to me. I would talk to Miki-san about it, but I'm not sure if it's my place to discuss something concerning him. What would I say? How would I even say it without her knowing who I was talking about? No... I can't. It's not my business anyway. God, I feel like such a busy-body. She groaned. I'm never going to get anything done this way. She turned off her computer and placed it back into her satchel, then pulled out her French book. Yes, I need to study for this exam or, I'll never pass. She cracked it open and began studying in earnest.

He was having a relatively calm, easy day. It had been almost perfect in its pace and it was a nice switch from having to deal with all of the pent up emotions and memories he had been wallowing in for the past week. Certainly he realized that he needed Kyoko, but he also realized that he did not wish to expose her to the side of him that desperately wanted to make his intentions toward her known. He certainly wasn't expecting a memory of the past to slap him in the face via Hidehito Kijima.

All of the talk of food, eating and whatnot had brought back the memories before Rick died. His mother may not have been the greatest cook on the planet but nevertheless, his old appetite did rival his father's. When everything had happened, it all just stopped. He couldn't even force himself out of necessity. Until Lory came for him, everything thing had stopped. He stopped acting. He stopped sleeping. He stopped eating. He just stopped caring. Stopped caring about what would become of him. He was alive and Rick was not. It took Lory two years to help him out of that state of mind.

He was remembering everything about it recently, but it didn't have the same effect on him as it did before. Between his dreams of Rick carrying on discussions with him that never occurred and Kyoko practically glued to his side for the past couple of weeks, he started to see things in a different light. It all still bothered him and he was still suffering from survivor's remorse, but Rick was telling him that he was using him as an excuse not to live like he should. That he was using him as his reason for his cowardice and Rick was deeply offended by it.

Hidehito grinned mischievously as he typed up the text message he was sending Kyoko. After talking before and at the party with her, he almost had her tastes all figured out. She may have seemed closed off to most men, but she liked the cute things. Her favorite color was any shade of purple. She liked puppies and kittens, what girl didn't? He smirked at the thought. Even though she hid her beauty... She was incredibly gorgeous when she wanted to be. She didn't like to talk of the past. He was okay with that, a lot of people had painful memories and he wasn't going to be the one to dredge it up and make her face it if she didn't want to. And... She absolutely and undeniably loved fairies and everything that had to do with them.

He took no notice of the oppressive mood in the room after he commented on sending Kyoko a text. Ren just smiled brightly at the casual comment as a quiet rage seethed behind his façade, not revealing to anyone, but those that knew him well, of his displeasure.

He had been able to force a deceptive smile and endure the entire experience that Kijima was unfurling before him. That was at least until Kijima received her reply. Kuon knew it was a little childish to feel this way, but why the hell was she sending Kijima texts, but didn't think it was proper to send him one? He wanted to wrap his fingers around the gleeful little bastard's throat and slowly squeeze the life out of him. Fortunately for that idiot, they had been called from lunch, back to the set to finish.

By the end of the day, Kuon had calmed enough to prevent any ugly outbursts of murderous intent. At least until he and Yashiro made their way down to the parking garage to leave for their dinner with the director. For some reason, Kijima found it fit to ask Ren for Kyoko's birthday. Her personal information hadn't been included in her profile. Kuon suspected that was because Lory deemed it so. She was his daughter now, after all and he certainly would have done the same for Maria if she was on the employee website.

Kuon (and yes, he felt every bit as Kuon at the moment) answered Kijima's inquiry and told him her birthday. He also confessed a little something in order to impress on the idiot, his position in her life. "I have to confess, Kijima-san... Kyoko (he purposely dropped the honorifics for a reason) has never sent me a text. In fact, we haven't even exchanged email addresses." He chuckled.

Kijima was shocked at this admission. "How on Earth do you get by? Social media, emailing and texting is a very important part of modern life?" He asked in disbelief.

Ren sighed. "Well... I just think that everyone takes it for granted. Why send her a text when I can call her directly and hear her voice instead?" He said the words with a little bit of what Kyoko had labeled his Emperor of the Night look.

He had stunned Kijima with his response so badly that the poor prospective suitor hadn't realized that he had been standing in the parking lot for several minutes alone pondering what he had told him. Kijima looked around in silence. "Does that mean that Tsuruga-kun has feelings for Kyoko-chan?" He groaned. Judging from that oppressive aura that he had emitted, he wasn't sure he wanted to go up against that particular beast.

"She knows..." Reino commented as he passed the tall actor and his manager on the way out of TBM.

Kuon froze in place as the wraith-like singer kept walking with a satisfied smirk on his face. She knows? {"Please Corn... Can you hear me?" He could hear the worry in her sweet voice.}

"Ren..." Yashiro stopped and turned to him. "Is everything okay?" He asked with worry. Today was just not going well at all. Between Kijima's little show and now the VK singer, he wasn't really sure what to expect. Yashiro was hoping that Ren's comment about him being able to hear her voice when he called her, would do the trick and keep that particular wolf at bay.

If she does know, she hasn't said anything. Did she tell him? His mind filled with worry and he couldn't get the thought of how she might react if she truly did know his secret, out of his mind. Ren sighed. "Yeah, let's get going."

"Kyoko-chan... What was he talking about?" Aki asked her in a worried tone. The discussion she had heard sounded serious. Reino had mentioned something to her charge about a dangerous man and Kyoko just brushed him off.

Kyoko gave a heavy sigh. "It's alright Shoko-san. He really doesn't know what he's talking about." Kyoko told her as she calmed her mind while caressing the little blue stone laying in her pocket.

It had been a few months since he came here. If he kept his head down, did what he was told and kept busy, it was bearable. Occasionally they were allowed to watch television and recently the commissary had been stocked with magazines and his favorite brand of cigarettes. He carefully pulled out the tastefully done centerfold of her and gently caressed the photo's tattoo before taping it to his cell wall. How could I have done that to her? He winced as he thought back on the photo's his uncle had shown him and his mind screamed at him as to why she had the dragon on her hip. He felt like garbage. She's doing so well... I really shouldn't be surprised by that, she was always able to get what she wanted. She works hard for it. He glanced at the other pictures surrounding the centerfold of her laying on her belly, her lower half draped in blue silk with the only thing truly exposed being a long leg, a glimpse of hip, her back, shoulders, arms and face. One arm cradled her head and the other folded beneath her to hide her breast. She had a soft playful smile on her face and her strawberry-blonde hair was tousled. There was nothing plain, boring or, unsexy about her. She was a goddess.

He sighed as he sat on his tiny bed and raked his fingers through his hair that was now growing back in, in it's original light brown color. "You're an idiot Shotaro Fuwa..." He told himself in a whisper and fell back onto his pillow for the night.

"LIGHTS OUT!" The guard announced before shutting off the lights for the entire cell block.

Sho rolled over. "I really need to stop doing this." He scolded himself before falling asleep.