Pieces

It had been four years since he and Kotonami-san had left for America, and began acting in Hollywood. It had been four years since either of them had seen or heard from her. Both had been very busy on one job or another, never having time to call, answer a message or even just browse the internet to check on her. Yes, they had done the same thing that everyone else did to her. Kuu, Saena, Sho, Kanae, and Ren were all birds of a feather when it came to Kyoko. Sure they cared about her, but not enough to think about her enough to shoot a text to or return a call. So, she just gave up and moved on.

During those four years she grew, she changed, and she improved both personally and professionally. During the first year she blamed herself for their faults. To remedy her problem, she started seeing a therapist. In those one hour visits, three times a week, they worked together to rid her of her flights of fantasy. They both determined that her Fairy Corn, was a figment of the imagination of a lonely child. She accepted the diagnosis, worked hard to be mentally healthy and put those memories where she and her therapist believed they belonged, in her childhood as an imaginary friend. She also discovered that Kanae really didn't see her as a friend and that she had forced the relationship on her, so her best friend was the one that truly wished to be her friend from the beginning, Chiori Amamiya.

By the end of year one, she began to mature and she began to date. Boy did she date. Lory had arranged her schedule to be packed to the brim with men that were interested her. That were willing to voice their interests to her. Her heart still hurt from Ren and Sho, but it was beginning to heal again and this time it had professional help. She was beginning to see herself as a valuable person, beautiful, poised, friendly, loving, polite, and kind. She no longer pressured people to be happy or to be her friend. She began to love herself.

It was at a party, when he saw her. She had grown so much. She was even more dazzling that before. They were celebrating her awards, congratulating her, toasting her with champagne. He approached the stunning, raven-haired, golden-eyed woman that always made his heart stop, and refused to leave his mind, as she caught a breath of fresh night air from the balcony of the Takarada Estate. "Mogami-san?" He said quietly.

She turned and smiled. "Ah, Tsu… Sorry, Hizuri-san. So nice to see you again. What brings you to Japan?"

Something was off. Blond hair and green eyes no longer drew a reaction from her. "Just thought…" He shook his head. "I'm Corn..."

She laughed. "No you aren't… Corn was an imaginary friend. A fantasy."

His brow furrowed. He'd even lost that part of her. "The stone?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Just a rock from a souvenir shop. Even you said it yourself." She smiled. "Remember in the stairwell when I first started working at LME?"

"But…"

"So I was really impressed by your last film. How is life in Hollywood treating you." She asked cordially. She had become very skilled at not allowing her past to creep up on her anymore and take her into her little la-la land. "I'm sure Kuu-sama is very proud of you." She smiled widely remembering the man. "How could he not be, with his tendencies?"

"I… I missed you. It isn't as friendly there. I miss this." He confessed.

She shook her head. "Don't be silly. You've been doing just fine without my annoying, childishness. I'm sure you didn't miss it for a moment. You're obviously very busy." She turned to go back into the party. "I'll try not to take too much of your time while you're here." She smiled and waved goodbye.

"Whoa… was that Kyoko-chan?" Yashiro asked in awe. "I heard she made a few changes, but… Wow." He babbled on for a few more moments on how much she'd changed, and how she was working the room and the paparazzi. "Did you tell her?" Yes, as his best friend he'd heard the story many times after he took off the Tsuruga mask in Los Angeles.

"She said it never happened. She essentially called me a liar." He murmured with a thick knot in his throat as he watched practically every male at the party kiss her cheek or hug her closely, in congratulations.

"…"

"Aren't you going to tell me that you warned me or say I told you so? Lecture me on how I should have cleared things up before I left?" He groused, fully expecting it.

Yukihito shook his head. "No, I think you've pretty much gotten the message. You don't need to hear it from me." He handed him a glass of champagne.

"Is she dating any of them." He waved his glass to the crowd of men around her. Asking sourly.

"Hmm, that is a very good question. No one will tell me. I suppose she keeps her life pretty private. I've been told to ask Takarada-san for the answer to that question.

They both watched as a very handsome, dusty-blond-haired, blue-eyed man in a tuxedo approached her, took her hand in his, and kissed it, causing the ravenette to blush and smile.

"His name is Doctor Yuudai Tanaka. He's a child psychologist that works as a counselor at the Children's Hospital, for kids and their families that are diagnosed with terminal illnesses." A somewhat familiar female voice told the two. "She met him at a charity function the year before last. Had you read a magazine or even watched the news once in a while you'd probably know that." She told him.

"I was in America, Amamiya-san. I really didn't have the time to do that." He told her with a familiar smile.

She gave him a flat look. "Really? Have you been under a rock? They blew up internationally last year when they got married. The tabloids couldn't get enough of them. Called them the power couple of the century, for their work with their charities for orphans and terminally ill children. It was even a big thing in America for a few months." She told him, gobsmacked that he nor Yashiro knew anything. Yes, they obviously had been deliberately ignoring anything that had to do with her. Very sad.

He looked out across the room and finally noticed what he hadn't before, that large, beautiful diamond wedding set sitting regally on her delicate, well-manicured hand, daintily holding the champagne flute, as she spoke to the owner of her heart.

Chiori smiled saccharinely sweet. Oh yes, she knew the whole story of this man, and how her sweet senpai had suffered. She was there for the whole thing, unlike some people that she no longer cared to mention. "Say hello to Kotonami-san when you leave to go back to the place you chose." She told him in a voice that changed to something a bit more venomous. "On second thought, don't bother. We're doing fine without either of you. Have a nice short stay." She told him as she walked away. Kyoko may forgotten the pain he caused in her heart, but Chiori remembered well, and hated both him and Kanae enough for the both of them.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" He barked at the man.

Lory sat calmly on his sofa as he sipped a snifter of brandy. "Would it have made a difference if I did, Kuon? You ran to America without one single look back. Did you even call her? Text her? Did you even attempt to clear things up with her or did you run away without any thought of her?"

"I..." Kuon started, then just dropped his head into his hands.

"Sorry Kuon, I'm not her keeper. She needed someone that truly wanted to be with her. Someone that was willing to make the effort and not head for the hills at the first opportunity like her mother, your father, or Fuwa, and she found someone that saw the real her. I was not going to take that away from her, just to make my godson, who has an aversion to the truth, happy. Causing my Number One Star, to believe that she was suffering from delusions… Suffering enough to actually see a therapist, Kuon. She has people in her life now that trust her enough to tell her the truth, Kuon. She's mature, well-balanced, and very successful now. Please, do not go out of your way to tear her life apart, like so many others have done, just to have a piece of her heart. You and Kotonami-san threw those pieces away, you will not be getting replacements of them from her, and I will not encourage her to do so."