UNREASONABLE DEMAND.
As usual, the moment Takarada stepped inside the agency wearing another of his weird outfits, the staff members shook their heads in resignation and sighed. But upon closer inspection, even they could see that something was a bit different that day.
The President was used to going overboard in whatever scheme he cooked up. So when his favourite day of the year was approaching, it was only natural that he went above and beyond. His behaviour was imaginable.
It was only the start of February, yet Lory Takarada already went so far as to take out his cupid cosplay costume and put it on. His smile was a bit too wide than usual, his eyes a bit too sparkling, and his fake cupid wings a bit too soft.
His costume even had a bow and quiver attached to it with heart shaped arrows inside it.
"Good morning!" He exclamed flashing a grin to his employees, who tried to reflect his enthusiasm and respond as cheerfully as possible.
Hearing the commotion, Kanae Kotonami, aka Moko, while she was having a drink with Swara in the cafeteria to discuss some work-related issues, cocked her head at the President and gasped aloud, her eyes nearly popping out of her skull from shock. "Holy Cow! What's up with him?"
Swara only offered her a tired sigh in response.
"I mean, seriously, why the heck is he acting so wierd?" Moko asked again.
"Isn't he always weird?" Swara replied.
"Yeah, but...you know what I mean! Why is he being weirder than usual?" Her eyes remained glued to the Takarada as the President made his way towards his office while exchanging pleasantries with the staff. "Are those wings? Is he supposed to be cupid?"
"Apparently so. It's february. He'll be like that until Valentine's Day passes. Which reminds me, I was supposed to inform you and Ms Mogami that he makes everyone who works here give chocolates to someone they love on Valentine's Day."
"Everyone?" She almost shouted.
"Specially young people like you. What can I say? The President loves love."
Clenching her first, Moko exclaimed. "Nope! No way! I'm not gonna do something so embarrassing like giving away chocolates on Valentine's Day!"
"He'll personally ask you. Specially you and Ms Mogami, since you too are the members of the Love Me Division."
"So I'll just lie about it."
"You think you can fool the President?" Swara snorted. " Good luck with that."
"Do you know how many calories chocolates have? And it's also so expensive. It's only a waste of time and money." She sighed in resignation. "But I guess I have no choice now, since the President is involved."
"Do me a favour and inform Ms Mogami about this too if you get in touch with her."
Moko grunted aloud. "She would not be happy to hear this."
That evening, Kyoko was on her way back home when she stopped at the supermarket to pick up some groceries. While she shopped there, her ears suddenly perked up when she heard it: the enthusiastic squealing of girls her own age as they swooned over a counter decorated with beautifully wrapped and delicious looking chocolates.
Kyoko looked at them pitifully and sighed with remorse. Judging from the way their eyes were shining, she could pretty much guess what those chocolates were for. It was all because that wretched day was coming.
Valentine's Day! Who the hell even made it up? Kyoko snorted in disgust. A day for confessing your love, my foot! It's the silliest day in the world! She remembered how she used to be one of those girls swooning everywhere wasting her time on Sho, and the thought almost made her throw up. I know! An idea popped in her mind. I'll call it the Vain Day from now on!
Glancing at those poor, innocent girls, Kyoko had to use all her will to resist the urge of helping them see that love was nothing but an illusion. In them, she saw her own past self. So she wanted to to open their eyes before they went through the same painful betrayal like she did, but she knew it would be no use.
Just bear with it, Kyoko, she told herself. If not for your own sake then for the sake of these girls. The wouldn't know the danger of the blade until the know it's sharpness for themselves. Let them have their little temporary romance for now. They'll soon see that it was all in vain.
Before she wasted more of her thoughts on those poor girls being deceived by lairs, her phone started ringing, diverting her attention. The call was from a private number so she couldn't see who it was from.
She pressed the cell to her ear. "Hello?"
There was no answer.
"Can you hear me?" She glanced at the screen. The call was connected, yet there was still no reply. "Who is it? Ren?"
A second later, the call was cut after a beep.
Well, that was odd...! Kyoko thought, wondering who it had been as she fiddlled with her phone, hastily going through her contacts.
Wait, why did I think that it was Ren? She turned flustered at her own actions. It could have been Mr Swara. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that.
As she stood there, her groceries forgotten, she saw a glimpse of a familiar face from the corner of her eyes, but the minute she swivelled her head to confirm it, that person disappeared.
What? She cocked her head to all sides. Did I imagine it, or was it really...?
All of a sudden, she felt the sensation of air tickling on the back of the neck. It was warm, like someone's breath. Before she could react, that sensation moved to the side before it went straight into her right ear, as someone blew hard into it.
With a startled shriek, she jerked away feeling a sense of of deja vu. "Not again!" She groaned.
When she turned, she saw that it was whom she had been expecting. Although his head was covered by a black hood attached to his sweater, the mane of his silver hair was still visible and it was enough proof of his identity. Her suspicions were confirmed. It was Reino.
"You!" She jumped away. Stroking her ear, she pointed an accusing finger at him and exclamed through clenched teeth. "What are you doing here?"
"Kyoko," he smiled, saying her name so casually as if they were nothing more than ordinary friends bumping into each other at the supermarket. "Long time no see."
"You!" She said it again, and with such as emphasis as if it was an insult. "How dare you so shamelessly show your face to me! You said you'd leave me alone?"
"And I did," he reminded her. "I never came to see you after Karuizawa, did I?"
"Until now! Why are you here?"
"It's been almost a year." He swivelled his head around and when he saw no one else, he slid off his hood from his head and ran his fingers through his pale silky hair.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She held out her phone like a weapon. "Go away! Or I'll call Ren!"
"Call him then. I don't care," he smirked. "It doesn't matter as long as he isn't here."
Kyoko backed away even further. Considering the last time when Reino was so afraid of Ren that he literally ran away with his tail tucked between his legs, she had been pretty sure if he ever bothered her again, Ren's name alone would be enough to scare him off, but it looked like he meant when he said he didn't care.
"Anyway, let's cut to the chase," he said.
"What do you want?"
He smiled innocently. "Something for Valentine's Day. Preferably chocolates made by your own lovely hands."
Kyoko stared at him dumbfounded. She had to rub her ears to make sure she hadn't misheard him. "Come again?"
"I said I want chocolates for Valentine's Day."
Kyoko was still bewildered, but when his words finally registered in her mind, she glared at him with disgust and anger. The thought alone of her making chocolates for this Beagle was so provoking that her features twitched and veins popped with pure rage. "Are you serious?" She spat. "Why in the world but I ever give you chocolates?"
"Well, for starters, because you love me and you're absolutely crazy about me." His face was so impassive when he said it, that it took Kyoko more that a minute to realise that he was mocking her.
"I'm most certainly not in love with you! Or anybody else, you sicko! This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"
"Okay, let me rephrase that. I want chocolates from you for Valentine's Day, because I like you."
Kyoko opened her mouth to respond, but her body was literally shaking from fury. After everything that had happened, he had the nerve to stand in front of her, and for chocolates of all things! Even Sho wasn't this messed up. She opened her mouth, but not trusting herself to speak, she closed it shut again. It took a few deep breaths for her to be calm enough to not scream.
"You're. Not. Getting. Anything. From. Me!" She whispered each word with a pause and hard emphasis to get it inside his useless brain, before she shouted, "you got that? Now get lost!"
Reino smirked amusingly. He wasn't the least bit shaken up by her response. "I thought it would come to this. It's a good thing I've got a plan B. Don't blame me, I tried asking nicely."
Kyoko tried not to let herself be bothered by his remark, but she still tensed up. "What are you gonna do you?" Her voice mixed with a speck of worry.
"You know why I never came to see you after Karuizawa? It's because my band was offered a new record deal in New York. I was gone. But now, you see, I'm back. So unless you do as I say, I'll make up for the lost time between us. I'll follow you wherever you go."
Something about the way he had said that made Kyoko believe every word. A fierce chill went down her back. She gulped.
Seeing that her words had the desired effect, Reino went on, "I'm pretty sure that even Ren Tsuruga won't be able to babysit you twenty-four/seven. He'll have to leave some time. And the minute he does, I'll be there."
After a forever long pause, Kyoko finally spoke, her voice quivering. "What is wrong with you?"
He spread his lips into the same creepy grin from before. "You can still prevent all this, if you just give me some chocolates on Valentine's Day. What do you say?"
Kyoko was so nervous that she started chewing on her lower lip while she considered his deal. She gulped again, before asking hesitantly, "and if I give you some chocolates, you'll leave me alone?"
"Cross my heart," he swore pinching his neck.
"Woah!" Yashiro exclaimed in surprise at the sight of the pile of gifts and chocolates lying around in Ren's apartment, when he stepped in. "It's only morning and you already got all of this!" He giggled with the excitement of a school girl. "These piles keep getting bigger year after year! Jeez! How many are these exactly?"
"I don't know," Ren smiled. "I only know that they won't fit in my car, and as much as I don't want to, I gotta move them since they're taking all the space."
"Makes sense. Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Anyway, I can take care of these, and you should leave for the set or you'll be late."
"You will? That will be great help. Thanks man!"
"What do you want to do with them?"
Ren thought about it for a moment. "Can you sort them? And take away the chocolates, I couldn't possibly eat all this alone. Leave the cards and everything else. I'll unwrap them later when I get time."
"I know for a fact that you'll get even more presents from the Dark Moon crew today." The manager smiled suggestively. "And who knows, you might even get a present from her."
Ren didn't answer, keeping his face perfectly indifferent.
Yashiro allowed his smile to widen into a mischievous grin. "It's been a long time since you last saw her. She has been busy with the shoot of her new drama, but luckily, today, your schedules are overlapped."
Ren tried his best to not let Yashiro see how childishly hopeful he was feeling. But when it came to Kyoko, his manager was almost as nosey and perceptive as President Takarada. So in order to dodge the subject, Ren left for the set of Dark Moon.
He was finally going to see Kyoko again. It had been almost two weeks. As much as he tried to fight off the urge to smile widely, he couldn't. So at last, he gave in to it while he drove.
It was still a bit early, but Kyoko was already dressed up in her costume and waiting for the shoot start. Her conversation with Reino from last night kept reverberating in her mind over and over again, causing her head to ache with worry and anger.
Since she was wearing her dark wig and Mio's scar on her face, she looked even scarier than usual while she muttered inaudible curses to Reino. Knowing better than to trust his empty promises, she was sure he would start stalking her again even if she gave him chocolates for Valentine's Day like he had asked.
She needed to do something to make it abundantly clear to him that nothing could ever happen between them. Not in a million years, no matter how hard he persisted.
While she tried to come up with an idea to deal with him, her co-stars Itsumi Momose and Airi Oohara were looking at her with concern.
"Kyoko," Itsumi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
That snapped her out of her pessimist thoughts. "Yeah," she answered. "Why?"
Airi said, "you were muttering by yourself."
"I'm okay," Kyoko forced a smile, "anyway, who are those for?" She inquired out of curiosity, eyeing the presents her costars were carrying.
Instead of giving her a answer, both the girls blushed.
Judging from the pink tinge on their cheeks, it was obvious to Kyoko who those gifts could be for. "Are those for Ren?"
"Yeah," they smiled demurely.
"Isn't a bit early for Valentine's Day though?"
Airi and Itsumi exchanged a glance before looking at her.
"Kyoko, don't you know?" Airi frowned.
"Know what?"
"Today is Ren's birthday."
Kyoko looked at them blankly, trying to discern any hint of a prank her co-stars might be playing on her. She smiled.
"No it's not," she sounded as sure as she could. "You guys must be mistaken. It's on the 19th. I checked it myself." After receiving such a wonderful present from Ren on her own birthday, Kyoko had specially checked the LME talent directory to find out his birthdate.
"No, it's today, 10th February, not on the 19th." Itsumi persisted.
"But-" Kyoko was saying, but she decided it was no use to argue about it. So instead, she walked over to the shelf in the corner of the studio which was stacked with old directories from LME. Luckily, she had used one of these to check Ren's birthdate. She reached for the same one from before which was on the last row of mid column. Flipping through the pages, she opened the one with Ren's details on it and showed it to both her colleagues.
"See for yourself," said Kyoko, with the hint of a satisfied smirk.
Inside that directory, there it was printed in clear, precise letters, beneath Ren's picture.
Birthday: 19th February.
The two actresses stared at it and then at each other.
"It must be a misprint," Itsumi concluded, after contemplating on it for a short while. "Because, it's not just us who has bought Ren a present." She pointed at the pile of gifts in the corner. "The whole staff has too."
Dread rippled throughout Kyoko when she finally understood what had happened. To confirm it, while cursing her rotten luck, she reached for another copy of the talent directory and hastily flipped through the pages until she found the one she was looking for. "No!" The words written there burned in her eyes.
Birthday: 10th February.
After Ren went through the trouble to wish her on her birthday at exactly midnight; after he gave her such a gorgeous present, she ended up being unaware of his birthday entirely, all because of a stupid misprint.
It had been two weeks since she last saw him, so she had been looking quite forward to today. Specially because she wanted to thank him for all his help in creating her character, and also because she was dying to tell him everything that had happened on the set of Box R. She had been selfishly hoping to talk only about herself, and on his birthday of all days, without having a clue about it. The worst part was, while everyone else at the set had brought him a present, she was the only one who didn't even know about it.
With the terrible feeling of guilt consuming her from the inside, she slumped down on a chair and sighed in frustration.