Chapter 18

Honestly, the thought to disguise themselves while out and about in the US had never really crossed their minds. What the Japanese public and fans thought while they were away, really didn't occur to them either. They were just blissfully unaware in their own little bubble of love and affection.

It all started from a little Chirp-It post from a fan that had spotted her at the ski lodge and it spread from there. By the time the lovey-dovey pair had returned to LA, for their final two weeks, before going back to Japan, her fans from all over the world had posted an accurate time-line and travel plan for Lory and everyone else for that matter. Much to Lory's dismay, a few had been able to guess at Kuon's identity also, and Kyoko's pest problem intensified. So much so, that her so-called childhood friend was leaving messages with practically every department just to get into contact with her. Each message left gradually intensified in length and rudeness as the days went by.

"Has that boy left his contact information or has he just been leaving these messages and hanging up like some kind of stalker?" Lory scowled a little bit reading some of the offensive messages.

"He gave his name to me, sir." Sawara answered.

"He hung up when I asked who he was." Matsushima, the head of the Acting Department answered.

"He hung up as soon as I recognized his voice." Nakazawa, the head of the Music Department chuckled, shaking his head.

Lory sighed out in frustration. "Well, this boy has been a thorn in my side, regarding her, from day one. I'm sure he's trying to get in touch with her because of the boost her career has had lately." Lory glanced once again at the many messages left by Sho and some that were left by her concerned childhood friend. He looked up at Ruto. "I want you to take these to IT and have them find the recordings." He handed him the most offensive ones and a few that weren't. "I'll need them when I speak to Akatoki about him." He shuffled through his files for Kyoko's file. "Ah… Here it is." Where is the address to that restaurant? He thought. He would also need to contact the nice couple that she'd stayed with in the past to find out how many times Sho had been there before and after she'd left. I need to get her into LME Housing for her own safety. He pondered.

"Did you need anything else, Sir?" Sawara asked.

Lory looked up, a little surprised that he'd forgotten that he wasn't alone. "Oh, yes. I need all of the most recent offers for her and Ren. Be they for here or for overseas. They're both multi-lingual, so don't leave any of them out." He ordered to all three managers. "I'll give you until tomorrow afternoon then." He then dismissed them.

He was fully aware of the problems Kyoko had with Sho Fuwa. There was a period of time when the boy had left her alone, but that was primarily due to the fact that he was on tour, and she and Ren didn't have so much light shed on their relationship. Once her photo spreads and miscellaneous commercials, in various countries came out, he progressively got worse. Juli works fast, just like her father. It was time to do something about him before the boy did something he truly regrets for the rest of his life. Any one of the things he'd done or said to and about Kyoko had the possibility of being career ending for him, if discovered by the wrong person, and Lory felt it would be a shame to lose that kind of talent due to being young and jealous.

He pressed the intercom. "Mina, get me a list of available apartments at Crown please."

He was pissed… He hadn't seen or heard from her in well over six months, other than the photos in the magazines he'd had Shoko buy for him, with no end of complaining from her about that one, but he sure as hell was not about to get caught buying something like that. It would ruin his image and make him seem desperate, in his eyes. He absolutely would not have anyone thinking that he had a thing for that plain, boring woman, with no sex appeal whatsoever. He honestly didn't know why she was featured in those magazines in the first place. He supposed that there were guys out there that liked the flat and shapeless look, but he didn't. Never mind the millions of copies of those photos that were out there floating around, folded and kept in innumerable wallets, plastered on ceilings above beds and on walls or hidden between mattresses, and these photos didn't even come close to what Kuon had possession of. Forget about the many magazines he had stored in a box discretely kept in the back of his closet, covered by an old coat he didn't wear anymore, because it went out of style since the last time he wore it, three months ago.

"Shoko! Did you get a hold of Kyoko yet?!" He bellowed from the sofa with his guitar in his lap and the television on the latest entertainment news that was droning on and on about the one that vexed him so.

Aki Shoko rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. This was starting to look more and more like he was having her stalk Kyoko-chan for him and she wasn't quite so comfortable with it anymore. Kyoko's popularity had skyrocketed and it just wasn't appropriate for this to keep going on. The girl obviously didn't wish to speak to him, she'd changed her number and only those directly involved with her knew exactly how to contact her. I was apparent that Sho was not a wanted factor in her life; otherwise, she would have contacted him, given her information to him, kept him in the know on her whereabouts, and she certainly wouldn't have made it next to impossible for them to actually find her. Then there was the not so small fact that she was obviously dating Kuu Hizuri's son, Kuon or if Sho's guess was correct, Ren Tsuruga in disguise.

"Well?!" He barked angrily.

Aki groaned and slammed shut the book she'd been reading in her home-office. "No Sho! I have not! All your sources are saying they haven't heard from her since before her 18th birthday! Now stop pestering me about it and work on your music! You don't have time to be doing this!" She scolded angrily.

"Tsk… Then what do I keep you around for." He mumbled irritably then went back to watching television and pretending to concentrate on his creativity.

"Did you have fun.~" Juli lilted to her pseudo-daughter as the pair sat around the pool in the atrium of the Hizuri home.

Kyoko giggled. "It was the most fun I've had in a long time." Kyoko answered blushing.

Juli cocked an eyebrow. "Did you use protection?" Sure she wanted grandchildren, but not at the expense of Kyoko's reputation. She didn't wish for Kyoko and Kuon to go through the hard times that she and Kuu did at the beginning of their marriage.

Kyoko blushed fiercely. "We didn't do anything like that, Mom! Jeez…"

Juli let out a sigh of relief. "Just be sure to play safe, okay?" She reminded.

Kyoko nodded. "I've already made an appointment for it… a few days before I have to go back to Japan." Kyoko confessed quietly.

Juli nodded in approval. "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it."

Kyoko couldn't argue on that point. She and Kuon had come very close many times on their little ski trip. Had it not been for Kuon's iron will and Herculean restraint, she could safely say that she would definitely not be a virgin at this moment. Why you ask? Well… because she really wanted to.