Chapter 13

"Nope…" Juli smirked snatching the very new and highly technical device from Kyoko's grip. "Only Kanae, Chiori, Mrs. Takatsuki, and Maria."

Kyoko pouted. "But what about Yuki, Lory, and Kuon?" She whined a little in a spoiled tone. This had been going on for at least a couple of weeks now. Every time Kyoko had the urge to call her manager and boss or the man she held in her heart, she was stopped cold.

Juli raised a brow and gave her a faux stern look, shaking her head. "Kyoko… you have nothing scheduled by them until after you get back. You don't need to worry so much. As you've said before, you haven't debuted yet, and Lory hasn't officially signed you on. So… you aren't even under contract right now." She gave her a wide smile. "You're a free bitch, baby."

Kyoko giggled. This little scenario didn't bother her as much as it did in the beginning. Juli was wearing her down. She was becoming more relaxed and her original personality was starting to shine through again. The more outwardly affectionate personality that didn't mind what others thought so much, not the one that had been hammered into her over the years for modesty and propriety's sake.

Thus far into their little girl's trip, they had spent four days in New York, a week in London, a week and a half in Paris, six days in Berlin, and at the moment they were in Barcelona. According to Juli, they had a few more to go before heading back to Los Angeles. Juli wanted to hit all of the major fashion cities and introduce her to nearly all of her contacts while sight-seeing and shopping. That meant that they would be traveling to Madrid, Rome, and Milan. Tokyo was unnecessary for obvious reasons. Juli wished to avoid Japan as much as possible during the kidnapping of her daughter.

New York had been for a quick wardrobe makeover. Initially, it was for clothing until Juli discovered that the only thing that closely resembled a portfolio was what LME had for her online. Kyoko was then introduced to one of Juli's photographers and they went all out with photographing her in practically every style they could come up with. It was insane. Her birthday had come and gone. According to Juli, this trip was her gift to her.

London, Paris, and Berlin had also been a flurry of shopping and photo shoots with Juli. Kyoko couldn't help but think that vacationing was more exhausting than actual work. Well, she would know soon enough that all was not as it seemed when the photo spreads came out in various fashion magazines and she spied the dramatic increase in her bank account. There would be many times in the future that she would wonder exactly how Juli got that particular information and think about how scary that woman could be when she was determined to do something, but it wasn't so bad to have a mom like her.

Not long after Juli had jetted off with the Immortal Butterfly, had Kuu started being inundated with packages of various sizes and shapes addressed to Juli and Kyoko. That had been a month ago and now he had Lory and Kuon constantly badgering him, over the phone, trying to find out where the girls were. As soon as there was word of their location, they'd pick up and move on to the next. It was almost like trying to catch an eel with one's bare hands. Of course Kuu knew that tracking the pair or even catching up with them would be an impossibility if Juli didn't deem it so. She'd always been that way. It would appear that she now had a worthy apprentice. The two were so much alike it was scary. If they didn't want to be found yet, Kuu felt that it just wouldn't happen. Lory and Kuon would just have to wait patiently until the little bird decided to return to her nest at home in Tokyo.

~xoxo~

Lory was stunned when the PR department brought Kyoko's social media account to his attention. She had just recently started posting photos and selfies a few days ago and they weren't bad either. Although, one really couldn't track her through that method due to the fact that the photos were a couple of weeks old. What actually stunned him was how completely versatile she actually was. She was dressed appropriately for each location to perfectly blend in with the culture and crowd, giving the impression that she had belonged there all along. What stunned him even more had been the fact that the captions and descriptions of the photos had all been in the corresponding languages of the countries that they were taken in. In his mind, this opened up a whole new host of venues for his little LoveME #1. He was chomping at the bit to delve into this international aspect. Ah… if only he could reach her over the phone.

Ren, no Kuon… he was definitely Kuon during this time, could be found pacing the length of his apartment in his leonine form nightly. He and the others had learned to control their abilities gradually during this time of a little over a month since the Immortal Butterfly had been absent. He knew for certain, by instinct, that Kanae knew exactly where Kyoko was and when she was there, but the little vulpine actress, and best friend of Kyoko's, was just not willing to spill the beans to anyone.

The only clues he had were from his father and the more recent views of her social media accounts that he followed and boy did those posts shock him. She was stunning, a vision, and he could see that when she returned there would be, without a doubt, more competition. He couldn't help but lament and question on how his own mother could do such a thing to him.

When Kanae, Chiori, and Maria first saw the photos of her trip, they couldn't help but marvel in wonder at her transformation. No, it really wasn't that dramatic. It was just the fact now that Juli had instilled a strong sense of self in her and reinforced it. She was now oozing with confidence due to all of the modeling photo shoots, and the honest compliments from photographers, other models, and complete strangers as they traveled and now it showed. It was a good change and they were proud of her for it.

"She's been very active since she first started. Don't you think?"

"Oh yes. She definitely deserves her place on the charts. She's a hard worker. Have you seen her latest photo posts online? She looks stunning."

"I know, right?… What do you think she was doing in Paris?"

"New drama, maybe?"

"I heard she'll be in a new movie called Sacred Lotus In The Mire. It's in post-production now. It should be coming out in the early summer."

"Oh my gosh! I can't wait to see it. Won't that be her first film?"

"Hmm, let's see… She was a scary Mio in Dark Moon, and her look at the after party was amazing… She was a very convincing bully as Natsu Kitazawa in Box "R"… and how could we forget the enchanting goddess of an angel in Fuwa-san's PV for Prisoner?"

During the conversation, several photos flashed onscreen of her works and her most recent internet posts. Meanwhile in the home audience, one male had a completely love-struck look pasted permanently on his face, one smugly nodded drinking his tea, two noted males were dazed, one had been completely rendered into a puddle of goo, and another just couldn't get the dirty little thoughts from his libido out of his mind and those were only the men she personally knew. There were many others out there with the same or similar reactions that she didn't know of, her many fans. The females that had seen the show had finally accepted that she was quite possibly a good match for many of Japan's bachelors and a viable romantic rival to many of the talented beauties that they'd idolized and conceded to. Kyoko was just more versatile than they were.