Secret Keeper
"Change of plans," he said as he slid off the stage. His plan of serenading her in the darkened theater, carving out their own private show from Fuwa's space was suddenly an interruption to someone else's evening. He'd find another way to give it to her.
She was clearly curious, stealing glances over her shoulder at the stage and looking at him with wondering eyes, but she asked no questions. For which he was grateful, as he wasn't sure exactly what his answers would be.
Why are we leaving Kuon?
Oh, no reason. I just saw your ex-boyfriend making out with a man.
Or,
Nothing really. Just didn't want to interrupt Fuwa's hot date with the #2 actor in Japan.
Or,
Remember that guy you wanted me to hang out with more? The one I ended up at an ONSEN with? Well… how to put this.
He was actually starting to think it was funny. All this time he'd been jealous of Fuwa, carefully safeguarding his and Kyoko's relationship from his influence, while Fuwa was as far from interested in her as possible. Kuon was grinning like a maniac, he knew he was, he could feel his cheeks stretched to bursting. Not only was Fuwa out of the ring as far as Kyoko's heart was concerned- Fuwa was happy. Busting-at-the-seams happy. The kind of obnoxious happy that was hard to resist, sneaking out into the world and forcing even sworn enemies to wish him well.
The streets around them were bustling with concert goers, taking selfies in front of the four-story tall poster of Fuwa. His mischievous side wanted to stand on that bench and scream out what he'd seen, causing a mass stampede back inside as a form of payback for all of the stress Fuwa had leveraged in Kyoko's life. But it was impossible. After seeing Fuwa's face while he sang and hearing his voice as he spoke to- to Koga- Kuon shook his head, still processing- to interrupt them would be crueler than he was capable of.
Cain might be able to handle it. He could always pretend for a moment to be the elder Heel again. Cain would do anything to pay back someone who had tormented his sister.
No, no. He shook his head. He'd tell Kyoko and that was it.
"What is going on, Kuon?" she asked from his side, her feet scurrying along to keep up with his harried stride. "You keep muttering to yourself and shaking your head."
He bit his lip, holding back a smile. Their car was just ahead, a safe zone from eavesdroppers. He held open her door and helped her inside, climbing into the driver's side and slamming the door shut. The roaring noise of the crowds instantly diluted to a gentle flow of white noise as others filtered through the garage to their cars. He turned to her, his mouth open and loaded with the bomb.
She was stunning, sitting there in the moonlight filtering through the windows. They were a hundred miles away from their forest glade in Kyoto, but even in this concrete jungle she looked like she had been snatched out of a fairy tale. Her darkened hair set off her skin, the contrast drawing his eyes irresistibly. But it was her golden eyes that truly held him captive, and right now they were at their best, warm and bright over her smile as she waited for him to speak.
He closed his mouth. Tonight was about their future, and telling her what he knew would derail the entire evening. He rapped his fingers on the steering wheel. Tomorrow, he'd tell her tomorrow.
"Do you mind if we stop by somewhere before we head home?"
She shook her head, settling back into her seat and resting her hand on the center console, palm up, waiting for his hand.
All his romantic plans for starlight views from the waterside vanished, and he found himself placing the small black box in her hand impulsively. She closed her fingers around it instinctively, looking up at him in question. He sucked in a massive breath and hopped out of the car, his hand on the hood as he raced around to her side before she could open the box. This was all inside-out and topsy-turvy and he hated it but he couldn't help himself. She was like a drug, and he kept leaping off every single cliff to get closer to her regardless of whether he had a parachute or not.
He opened her door and tugged on her arm, pulling her up out of the seat he'd just helped her into moments ago.
"Kuon?" she said, confusion pervading her tone. She was holding the box with both hands like she was afraid to break it. He covered his face with his hands, taking a deep breath to steady himself and then he was on one knee before her, his hand outstretched, his mind and soul full of nothing but her.
People passed by their space between the cars, their voices echoing against the concrete framework of the garage. The wind whistled as it blew in through the small openings above their heads, bringing just enough moonlight with it to give her features an otherworldly glow beneath the fluorescent lighting. The ground where he knelt was uneven, with bits of pebbles and old oil stains. It was all wrong.
But she was here, with him, loving him, and they didn't need anything more than that to make it perfect.
He took her hand, his large hand engulfing hers as he gently opened the box and turned it to face her, leaving their fingers entwined. A solitaire diamond ring glinted in the moonlight. Tiny amethyst-studded roses twined around the band up to anchor the stone. It gleamed with an unusual deep purple when the light hit it- for at the base of the diamond lay a small fleck of iolite, the same stone he'd given to her when they were children.
"Mogami Kyoko, will you marry me?"
Tears were running down her face, sweet trails following the curve of her smile as she looked from the ring to him and back. Her hands shook in his- or maybe that was just his own hands shaking. She'd already answered him, he wasn't nervous, but the act of being on his knees in front of her asking to seal their relationship with a ring was one he had dreamed of vividly for years now and the intensity of his desire for it was overwhelming.
She nodded - praise God, she nodded - and he stood, trying to pull the ring from it's snug bed but his hands were shaking too much and he kept fumbling. She was laughing, the sound mingled with tears, and then her deft fingers were helping him and it was out. He didn't know what to do with the box - what did people do with the box? It was in the way; he just dropped it on the floor beside them to roll under the car. Kyoko gasped in protest but then he was sliding the ring on her finger and the box was forgotten as they both watched. The movement was so simple. A ring of metal slipped on a slender finger. But each millimeter it moved was a fraction closer to her heart's beating and a promise that his heartbeat would be hers, as long as she would have him.
Suddenly he was shouting. He was holding her up in his arms and he was shouting at the top of his lungs in the parking lot, everyone's faces turning toward him as they walked to their cars, then breaking into contagious joyful applause when his words lost their echo and registered in their ears.
"She said YES! Yes! She said yes!"
It was unreal how much everything changed. She'd said yes before, but now she'd accepted him and everywhere she went people knew. The sun was his accomplice, hitting the diamond at the right angle to flash at onlookers with perfect execution like they'd been planning this for years. They'd arrived on set together- he, holding out a giant coffee to Yukihito as an advance apology for the extended hours he was about to have to pull to cover the P.R. hurricane he unleashed the moment he posted the picture to his social media.
It was from set this morning. She was dressed as Mulan, and he as Li Shang. She was wrapped in his arms, her eyes closed as he leaned down about to kiss her. The camera's focal point was on her hand, outstretched beyond them, capturing the ring front and center. He posted it and signed off, sliding his phone into the pocket of Yukihito's suit jacket.
"I'm sorry I didn't give you warning, Yukihito," he said. "But I promise not to do it again."
Kyoko had whacked him playfully at that, warning him that two proposals was more than enough for anyone and if he so much as tried to propose to anyone else she'd show him what Mulan did to traitors.
Yukihito put his phone down for long enough to tell them they were trending more than Fuwa's notorious hotel room vblog, holding out his fist for a bump from Kyoko. Kuon couldn't hold it in any longer with that. He'd been a model of forebearance but this was just too perfect of an opportunity.
"I know who he's in love with," he whispered in her ear. She perked up, turning to him eagerly. If she had a tail it would wag. He waited a beat, drawing it out.
"Koga Hiromune."
He sat back to watch her reaction. He loved surprising her. She was always so unhindered with her responses. She was looking at him calmly. She blinked several times. The smallest of smiles turned up her mouth at the corners. He waited.
She stood and walked away. Kuon almost called out after her— maybe she hadn't heard him over the noise of the production team setting props. But then her hands shot up to the sky and she started doing a flippitty-jump dance so contorted it looked like she was trying to imitate the love child of a hummingbird and a sea snake. A whoop of glee and Kyoko was running back to his side, her hands balling the fabric of his loose jacket sleeves into wrinkles the costume team would have to steam out. Her face was incredibly close to his, eyes massively wide.
"Did you say what I think you said?"
He nodded, pursuing his lips to keep the delight in.
"As in, Shizuma? That one?"
He nodded again. She dropped his sleeves, spinning with her arms in the air. Suddenly she was leaping to Yukihito's side.
"Yuki-kun, a favor. Can you find out if my old costar Koga Hiromune has been on any jobs in the past two weeks?"
Yukihito nodded, only a slight crease between his brows betraying any curiosity at her question or questionable antics. A few short calls later and he reported back, stopping Kyoko ceaseless fidgeting.
"Koga-san fired his manager just over two weeks ago and left the country. He has yet to return; his agency said he has a new movie project starting in a few days so he should be back from wherever he is if you still need him."
Kuon recognized his manager's expression just then. He was dying to ask more details, but was suppressing the urge beneath the veneer of professionalism. He itched to tell his friend too, but it was not his secret to share. There were many hurdles Fuwa and Koga would face in the future if this was their chosen path. His own struggles and taught him empathy at least and he refused to take any action that risked increasing their burdens.
Kyoko was beaming at him victoriously. She thanked Yukihito and plopped down in her chair by his side. Leaning over, she whispered in his ear. "He was the one in the room. The video blog room."
Kuon blushed, trying not to imagine yet another of the pair's intimate moments.
"I think Fuwa may need a plus one at our wedding," he whispered in return.
A/N: Next chapter is the last chapter of Every Move You Make. I usually end sentences with exclamation points but I can't quite make myself do that :). Thanks for all the love, and I'll see you all on #120.
