The tale of the fairy prince
Sho looked at her gaping like a fish. The rest of the audience were not any less confused. What was that idiot thinking? She was at her boyfriend's funeral talking about meeting fairies? They were going to commit her to a looney bin! At least he could argue that it was grief making her mad and maybe they'd release her into his family's care and he'd be able to stay by her side. At least that's what he'd like to believe. There was no way his mother would let him near her again after everything he had put her through.
He looked at his best friend concerned as she continued with her story, "It is no secret that I had a complicated childhood" she smiled sadly thinking of the past. That sad look on her eyes tugged at his heart strings even after all these years. "I needed a place to find solace and cry my heart out without being an inconvenience to the family who were so kindly taking care of me" she continued on like she wasn't painting an incredibly sad picture. "I found the most beautiful clearing on a riverbed, and most amazingly, there was a fairy prince there".
She smiled softly recalling the memory, "the sun shone bright above the sky and reflected like molten ore off his golden hair. He looked so surprised to see me, and I couldn't stop myself from asking him if he was a fairy" the audience laughed at her candor even when she was a child. "His bright green eyes were the most beautiful i had ever seen" no one noticed as Hizuri Kuu flipped his wife's veil and looked deep into her eyes. "He told me about his father, the fairy King who had the power to control all of the citizens in the world of fairies" Julie smiled at Kuu, "And his mother who had the power to stay eternally young and was the most beautiful Queen" Julie had silent tears rolling down her face at the description Kyoko was giving of them.
"When i first met him his wings hadn't fully developed, and every time he tried to fly his fathers enormous wings would cast such winds that his own would be ripped apart" she said sadly. "His fathers hands were too big so he was never allowed to freely soar in the sky" she said as tears started running down her cheeks. The audience was enthralled by her story, forgetting for a minute where they were. "I cried for my fairy prince and his own suffering, being suffocated by his father's wings. We parted ways when he left me after a few magical days together, he even showed me how he flew through the sky" she said with awe and wonder in her voice. "Before parting he gave me this'', she pulled a little purple stone from a pouch that had been resting on the podium.
Fuwa Sho recognized the stone. He had seen Kyoko holding on to it many times growing up, as if drawing strength from it. She always kept it on her and was the only item of hers that she refused to share with him. "This is Corn, my fairy prince gave it to me after infusing it with his power. You see, this stone has magic" the whole audience tilted their heads at the same time worrying for the girl who had named her stone after a vegetable. "The stone will absorb sadness and pain" she said showcasing the purple stone to the audience almost like a magician proving there were no hidden cards behind their hand. She then grabbed her stone tightly against her chest and closed her eyes while the audience waited expectantly. They could visibly see the change in the young actress, her shoulders relaxed, the air became easier to breathe and when she opened her eyes they were bright like stars.
She held the stone up for everyone to see again and held it against the spotlight on top of her, and before everyone's eyes the stone changed from purple to blue. A few gasps could be heard through the crowd and people fell deeper into her story. "It would be many years until I'd see my fairy prince again, but I always had Corn with me and with my magical stone I was able to face any challenge that came my way." she continued. "It was almost a decade later after I lent him my stone so it could work it's magic on him, that Ren himself told me that my fairy prince had grown, that his wings had grown big and enchanting and he had used them to escape his father's grasp and fly far far away, living more freely than anyone under the vast vibrant sky" she smiled tenderly thinking of Ren's shocked expression at her outrage.
"I was so mad when he said that, My fairy prince had been born to be a King, he was born with that power and he wouldn't just run away. He was unable to surpass his father because he was only a child, but i knew my prince better than anyone and knew that he'd surpass his father and fly through the skies as king of all faeries". Julie and Kuu were sobbing silently, Lory was bursting with excitement knowing Kyoko was telling a piece of their story they hadn't shared with anyone before.
The audience was captivated by her storytelling, Sho had even forgotten the reason he had run out of TBM earlier today in the middle of filming his latest MV. He looked at her as she stood at the podium and watched as she animatedly told a story he had never heard. He hadn't grasped the subtle hints she had been dropping but, just like the rest of the audience, believed every single word she said.
Kyoko continued with her story noticing the curious eyes of her friends who had stopped looking at her like she was crazy but were now wondering where she was going with this story. "A few months after, I met an esper" she internally groaned at the concerned looks she was receiving again, "He touched my stone and told me a horrible story about it's previous owner" she looked down at her stone and tenderly smiled. "He told me whoever had owned Corn before me had been living in insufferable pain, that if he continued to feel that way he would have been broken by now" she was looking incredibly sad as she finished her statement "or would have already left this world" a few people gasped softly catching the meaning behind her words.
Sho had no idea what she was talking about but the heartbreak on her face was evident and it hurt his own heart. She only made such pained expressions when it came to her mother. "At the time i was still too naive to catch on the meaning of his words" she laughed softly "my exact response was 'duh' he's a fairy prince, of course he's from out of this world" the audience smiled and chuckled, that sounded very much like the young actress before them. The visual kei artist almost faceplanted the floor, she was so dense sometimes.
"I was reluctant to believe it, but the more he said the more scared i got for my fairy friend, he said if he wasn't able to break free of those feelings he would have gone crazy" her eyes shone with unshed tears "or would have chosen to leave this world by his own free will." Julienna Hizuri sobbed uncontrollably into her husband's shoulder. Kuu himself felt a hole inside his soul listening to the sweet girl in front of him describe his own son's feelings.
They had never known how bad things had really been. They tried to love and support their son unconditionally and never once thought he would have been feeling that way. He must have been a tremendous actor since he was little if he was able to fool them too. "Ren was always there for me you know? He comforted me when I told him how guilty I felt about not listening to my Fairy prince's troubles when he had always listened to mine" silent tears continued to run down her cheeks as she continued with her story.
"He reassured me that my fairy Prince had grown yet again" and i believed him, he said it with such conviction that it had to be true" she wiped the leftover tears in her eyes. "He has always been such an amazing actor, I would have done anything to see him act, and as often as i could i did. As you know part of Tragic Marker was filmed in Guam, and I followed him there to fulfill my duties and continue to watch his amazing talent" some people in the aducience shivered at the memory of the critically acclaimed horror movie. "I even traveled a day earlier than expected just to see him. You could imagine my surprise when on my first day there I ran into the fairy prince himself instead" she smiled to the audience "I thought he was a mermaid princess at first as he had just come out from under the water's surface in the ocean" people giggled again at her characteristic imagination.
"The big jerk had the audacity to try and ignore me pretending i hadn't just seen him come out of the water after I called out his name" she said slightly annoyed to the amusement of her audience. "There was no way for me not to recognize his blond hair that looked infused with diamonds and his bright green eyes that looked almost red when light shone through them. He looked down at me and walked away. I thought perhaps I was not good enough to be his friend anymore, I am nothing but a mere plain human" her friend group groaned in annoyance. They were all used to her putting herself down and diminishing her accomplishments, but to do it in front of every important person in the entertainment industry was a whole new level.
Hiromune Koga was starting to piece the information she was giving them together, he started noticing that his Lotus in the Mire co-sar was talking about her fairy prince with the same affection and annoyance she exclusively reserved for her boyfriend. He stared at her as she continued "perhaps he didn't recognize me, i had grown as well and looked completely different than when i was 6" she said signaling to herself and every man in the room used the opportunity to admire her amazing figure in her skin tight dress, "he must have finally recognized me for he came back and wrote my name in the sand, and i cried my heart out to him, i was so proud of how much he'd grown, how strong he looked. I told him how worried i was for him and how i wish i had listened to his own woes and hardships".
She didn't think of the livestream as millions of people all over the world were following along to her story and falling in love with her and her storytelling. "He wrote to me in the sand that he needed to borrow a voice for his magic had changed as he'd grown and wasn't able to use his powers on earth anymore" she sighed thinking of how naive she must be looking right now. "He signaled for me to close my eyes and touched my forehead briefly" she said as she closed her eyes while retelling her story.
"When he called my name i thought i was going crazy, for the voice i heard was the voice of my esteemed sempai" she said as a few people gasped starting to connect the dots. "He told me he had borrowed the voice that was the most prominent in my memories, the voice of the last person I was thinking about" she said, flushing at the embarrassing admission. "He truly did look like a fairy, his strong muscular build and fit form seemed almost familiar. A little too familiar after hearing that voice coming out of his lips. The physical proportions between my fairy prince and that of my senpai were identical" more and more people were getting the scene she was setting. "He said it was because i had been thinking of Tsuruga Ren that his physical form had started to set into a similar one after borrowing his voice, after all only pure hearted children were supposed to be able to see a fairy's physical form in this world" she admitted again groaning at the laughter of the audience at her acceptance of such a ridiculous excuse.
The president of LME was the most enthralled of all, listening to this tale of love far beyond what he expected out of his children, learning they had met as kids and how much he had tricked her to keep his identity a secret was giving him 20 years back into his lifespan. He continued listening to his #1 Love Me girl as her voice continued rejuvenating him "We spent the day together after that. I was set on being his strength as he had been mine. He told me he was cursed, as people involved with him had their lives thrown into chaos" she smiled sadly. "And that a terrible tragedy had happened, something that was beyond god's help". Lory looked at his friends sitting on the first row as they cried and embraced each other.
"He told me if he didn't exist he wouldn't have brought unhappiness unto the people he cared about most, and that he couldn't forgive himself and had been cursing himself and would never be able to smile again." The actress smiled sadly once again but her audience could tell she was getting excited. "I had never been more blessed than when he came into my life, i told him he had always been my strength and that there must be many others who also felt lucky to have met him and that i'd do anything in my power to help him break his curse" she sighed knowing the next embarrassing confession she was about to make.
She did not regret telling this story in such a public way, she was merely setting the stage for the biggest shock the entertainment world of Japan was about to receive, but she did wish she hadn't been so innocent and naive her whole life. "He asked me for the most traditional method of curse breaking, a true love's kiss" people all over the world sighed at the romantic picture she was painting. Those who had already deduced that Ren was her fairy prince smiled affectionately, it was well known that the man went above and beyond to do romantic gestures for his fairy loving girlfriend. It was even more obvious now why he always centered his gifts around fairytales.
"I told him I couldn't for i was not a pure hearted maiden anymore and he asked me if I didn't love him. He had always held a special place in my heart, but before i could explain he told me he loved me" she admitted blushing as people chuckled around her knowing it had been Ren professing his love for her way before she realized it herself. "I told the poor man that i was happy about his feelings but i was human and he was a fairy, our love simply couldn't be" her audience laughed at the innocent girl before them. "He asked me if I had a boyfriend, which at the time I didn't, I had simply promised my senpai that I would protect my chastity with my life. It was really nice seeing his own words backfire in his face, you know" people gasped as she finally stated plainly what she had been hinting all along.
Fuwa Sho looked at her confused, had she just confirmed that she had met Tsuruga Ren when she was a child? That couldn't be. She would have told him. They might not be as close anymore but they were still friends. He stared at his childhood friend as she continued with a hint of annoyance "This man had the gall to tell me it would be fine as long as he didn't find out!" the audience laughed once more at the troubles Ren had to go through to get his girl to accept his love.
Kotonami Kanae had been listening intently connecting all of the pieces of the puzzle that was her best friend. Why would they have kept all of this a secret? It would have made making their relationship public much easier if they had said they'd met as kids, they had such a fantastic story even with the fairy theme mixed into it. Something wasn't adding up she thought as she stared at her best friend suspiciously. "He reproached me as I had promised to do anything in my power to help him break his curse. He accused me of thinking Tsuruga-san to be more important than him" she said as she facepalmed at her boyfriend's antics while people laughed.
"Determined to help my fairy prince i got into character as a priestess following the actor's rule of the heart, and letting my own heart write my script i told him my most inner truth, that for me to become the present me, each and every one of the experiences, both good and bad, that i had lived were essential, that I am even grateful for them" people all over the world smiled as her message resonated with many of them "and that no matter how many times i'd felt sad or low in spirits while getting to this point, his own magic and memories were the ones to always cheer me up. It was only human nature to give him something in return for all the strength he had given me" she continued on. "I gave him a small kiss much to his dissatisfaction but it served its purpose and the curse had been lifted. He laughed with me for the first time since finding him in the ocean".
The audience was waiting, wanting to know what happened next. Not even the reporters were taking notes, simply too enthralled in the love story. "It's funny now seeing how jealous of himself he was, he asked to call me by my name without honorific and I told him that he couldn't! There was no way i could hear my senpai say my name so casually!" people laughed knowing how proper the woman in front of them had always been. "I told him perhaps next time we saw each other, and we both knew then that there might not be a next time" people were once again confused as she continued. "Right then, my fairy prince walked up to me and kissed me the way he had wanted" she admitted embarrassedly.
"It was my first kiss" she said intently staring at the visual kei singer in the back glaring at her. Was his kiss no good to her? Was it that bad that she had simply decided to ignore it? He guessed he could picture her doing just that. "He told me then he was glad he was born, to have met me. For the first time in his life he was glad to have been born as himself" she smiled down at the lovely couple sitting in the front row. Their time to shine was coming, so they needed to compose themselves. "He thanked me and told me he had to go. He told me we'd meet again. And with that, he jumped off the balcony we were at" people shouted and gasped in shock. "That was the last time I ever saw my fairy prince."
To say people were confused was an understatement. The talented actress had told a beautiful tale of love and sorrow that left them with more questions than answers. Kyoko was waiting patiently for her audience to settle down. She held her stone up again for them to see and continued "My magical stone is named after the person who gave it to me, Corn" she said, confusing her audience even further. Wasn't Tsuruga-san the fairy prince in her story? "When I first met him he had been visiting Japan for the first time. He had traveled all the way from Los Angeles in America, the place he called home" her audience could feel the anticipation. "His accent was too heavy for me to grasp his name" she looked to her left and nodded to her target. "I'd like to introduce you to my most important person" she said holding out her hand as a very tall man walked from the side of the stage "Kuon, meet everyone."