Chapter 54
"What the... ?!" Takenori Sawara gaped at the cover of the tabloid, and spewed his coffee over his desk. Coughing and quickly dabbing up the small puddle that'd accumulated in front of him, he cursed inwardly. Lory was going to certainly be pissed about this. He groused inwardly as his eyes fell on the multiple photos of what could only be misconstrued as a love... square? Boost magazine had sweet little Setsu shacked-up with Reino, Fuwa, Kuon Hizuri, and Ren. Of course he knew that Kuon was Ren now. He'd attended the small wedding ceremony between the two, but this was entirely too much. At no point had she behaved as nothing, but friends with Reino and Fuwa... publicly. Well, Ren was another matter though, sure they had behaved closely, but nothing that would lead people to believe they were lovers. They'd been very careful of that.
~xoxo~
Sho grinned maliciously at the cover-page. His connection at Boost certainly worked fast. Well, when you give them something juicy, they definitely run with it. It really helped that they'd been trying to get something on Tsuruga for a long time, and then along comes this little foreign slut. He was almost salivating from the damage that would be done to her reputation. She would be driven out of Japan by the next week if everything went well, and they couldn't trace it back to him with any proof.
Lory sat looking at the variety of papers that lay on his desk before him, and none of them were flattering to his goddaughter. Sure, he wanted Ren to be a little less boring, and he had gotten that somewhat, but the public was painting his goddaughter to be the whore of the century. Her only mistake had been going on one date with that little weasel. He knew that Sho Fuwa had something to do with all of this, especially after that call from Setsu and Kuon last night; however, they had absolutely no proof. Not only that, the gossip-rags had included him in her male harem line-up, not that it injured his reputation in the least. No, this was painting all of these young men as the victims of some kind of succubus or loose woman that preyed on innocent men for reputation's sake. Claiming that she used her body to further her career in Japan. It was all utterly ridiculous!
"Sir... They've arrived." Ruto announced as he stepped into the now gloomy office.
Lory sighed. He was not looking forward to dropping this particular bomb on the pair. "Show them in." He sighed out grimly.
He watched as the pair entered, completely not knowing what was going on around them outside. Ren was being portrayed as a playboy, and Setsu was being portrayed as a Jezebel of the highest degree. Neither had seen anything in the papers or on the entertainment news yet. The paparazzi hadn't started circling LME like the vultures that they were. At the moment, they were hunting down her male prey. They wanted all of the juicy details before they got to her. They wanted solid evidence of her wrong-doings. She was not going to squirm her way out of this.
What the hell? Was the first thought in his mind, as he stood stunned by all of the attention that he and his band were experiencing. From what he could gather, there was something that had to do with Setsu and her new hubby. Apparently he was being lumped into a pile of jilted lovers with that slime Sho Fuwa. How disgusting.
The questions they were asking didn't border on the offensive, they flat-out were offensive. "I was just wondering where you guys are getting your information." He commented to one of the vultures.
"Haven't you been keeping track of what's being said about the woman that used you to get to the top?"
He chuckled. "Seriously? She didn't need me or my name to get where she's at. She already has a name and the talent to back it, no matter what she decides to do. I think you should actually be checking your sources first. Setsuka Heel is not the type of person the cheat on anyone." This was something he knew personally, and he also knew she wouldn't tolerate it. Later in the day, one would find him sending a text, asking a dear friend and contact in Japan if Setsuka was okay and how she was holding up. Of course he didn't contact her directly, he was pretty sure that her hubby wouldn't appreciate his concern.
Back in Japan, another was soaking up the excess attention. Absorbing the pity that he was receiving from the ravenous gossip hounds. His manager couldn't have possibly been more irritated as she watched her charge play the media with his sob story about how he really thought that Setsuka Heel had actually been interested in him, but instead was only interested in his name. He feigned shock and hurt.
Aki Shoko left the building. She knew her charge was rotten, but this was too much.
[Find your own ride back... - Hot Manager]
He just stared at his phone. What the hell is her problem? He wondered as he dialed his hired driver to come pick him up.
~xoxo~
Lory smiled brightly. "You two just keep doing what you're doing and that boy will take care of himself." He told them. His sources kept him well informed. This boy was going to tie his own noose if he said anything derogatory. It would all come back at some point and drown him.
Once the paparazzi started digging, they would find that she kept mainly to herself when it came to men, and she'd only dated one other, remaining friends with him. Honestly, Fuwa-san didn't really count in his mind.
"No..." Kuon told him flat-out. "I'm tired of this. Setsu is not that way and I will not let my wife's reputation suffer like this. This will only get worse before it gets better, and I'm sick of hiding our marriage away like it's some dirty secret."
Setsu looked up at him with wide eyes. "Are you sure about this, Kuon?" She whispered in worry.
He looked at her with a soft smile. "Of course I am. I'm hired for my skill, not my relationship status. If my fans aren't happy with my choice, then they aren't my fans." He kissed her forehead.
Lory was practically drooling with moe. "Are you sure you're ready for that?" He'd had a hunch that Kuon had been ready for the revelation for months.
Kuon shrugged. "It's only a stage-name. I really don't think I need to hang onto it with a death-grip."
Once the story was out, many young men and women realized that the pair had a life-long connection. Seeing themselves as a potential love interest just wasn't in the cards. Kuon and Setsu had know each other since they were children, taken family vacations together, spent the holidays together.
Fortunately for the couple, the contact that Fuwa had a Boost Magazine, decided that the young man that had given him the erroneous information was a little more interesting than the couple. Not long after their relationship announcement, as planned by Lory, a full expose was released regarding Sho Fuwa, and the people he'd used to boost himself, and used then tossed aside began crawling out of the woodwork. While Cain and Suki were working on Tragic Marker, Fuwa was self-destructing, without anyone there to set him on the right path. Aki Shoko had abandoned that lost cause the moment he enlisted the aid of tabloids to gain notoriety. There is no way to help someone that dives headlong into filth of that kind, without expecting to get dirty themselves.
