Chapter 23

Before Juli had her in her clutches, Kyoko hadn't a clue about the men around her, their desirous looks, their behavior, or anything else that had anything to do with sexuality. Well, maybe a bit. She just chose to ignore it and pass it off as something else; however, now that she was fully aware and it had been pointed out, many more times than she cared to admit, it was more like a very addictive drug flowing directly into her brain. It was pure power that she wielded against the males of the species, especially one very specific male. Her favorite look from him had to be a cross between sweet fairy prince and luscious bad-boy Emperor of the Night. Now that was a powerful look. Good thing he'd only sent it her way. She wasn't sure if the general populace would be able to handle something like that. She realized that she barely could once she felt her legs go a little soft, and the goosebumps race up her arms.

Although he really didn't have a handle on the looks he flashed when he was around her, he was fully aware of the Goddess of the Night, as he called her, when she let her lusty little look flash his way. He noticed that it happened more often than not when he wasn't wearing his contact lenses or when he dressed casually. She seemed to like the denim jeans, the loose shirt that showed a bit of his collar bone, and loafers. He'd even caught her staring at his ass at one point. He most certainly didn't point it out, but it did give him quite a thrill to know she looked at him that way. He'd always been of the belief that she was one of the few that didn't look at him that way. There had even been an evil little gremlin in his mind that kept telling him that she didn't think he was sexy at all. He was inwardly jumping for joy when the Goddess first appeared in his life not too long ago.

"Whoa, is that you Senpai?" Chiori froze in the doorway to the LoveME Section.

Kyoko giggled. "Hey, Chiori. It's been awhile."

Chiori smiled widely. "I saw some of your photos, but I didn't believe it was actually you. I mean… No offense, but wow, what a change. What happened?"

Kyoko sat on the large, pink, plush sofa and crossed her legs. "You remember me talking about Mom in the messages we sent?… Well, I had a little help learning to relax and not be so uptight." She told her, examining her nails, giving off a little bit of a Natsu vibe. Not in the bully type of way, but more of the oozing with self-confidence sort of way.

Chiori smiled. "It looks good on you. Maybe you could give me some wardrobe pointers. I'm getting a little tired of the little girl look my manager wants me to keep constantly." She complained a bit.

Kyoko nodded. "I just got my new apartment. We'll have to get together when we have some free time." Kyoko suggested.

Chiori smirked. "A sleepover?"

Kyoko smiled with a twinkle in her eyes. "Maayy-be~" She lilted. "Although… I don't think it'll be the same without Kanae joining us." She pouted a little.

Chiori agreed. "Yeah… I mean it's good she got another part in the US, but it seems to me that they've only been giving her bit parts since she was in that movie with Cedric Benet." Chiori groused.

Kyoko scowled a little. "Well, at least we got to see her at the party last year." As for Supreme Bastard, Kuon will definitely trample him and put him in his place very soon. A little smirk crossed her lips and made Chiori shiver.

"So… it's already been two hours and they're still talking about the sexy centerfold that Tsuruga-san brought in on his arm." She smirked a little at the pink that flushed Kyoko's cheeks. "I'm guessing that was you?"

Kyoko nodded covering her face. "Ugh." Kyoko groaned a little in embarrassment. She really should have expected it. Juli did warn her.

"Are you two finally dating?" Chiori asked mischievously.

She gave her a small smile and nodded. "Yes, but I'm thinking we should probably keep it under wraps until my career's a little more stable." She told her quietly."

"Oh my god, Senpai! How could you possibly be any more stable than you are right now? There's no way those jealous cows would say anything if you two were seen together in a dating situation." Chiori scolded. "Besides, most of the gossip rags have been pairing you up with him for the past two months… I guess ever since your Valentine's photos came out in Magnus."

Kyoko giggled thinking of the special photos she'd given Kuon. Of course she remembered Magnus and Sports Periodical, those were the two that gave her the biggest boost in self confidence. From what Chiori had just told her, the fans didn't see her the way that she was worried about. Once again, Juli was correct with everything she'd predicted.

KNOCK… KNOCK…

"Can I come in?" The two females looked up at the now disguised male as he poked his head into the room.

"It's okay, Ren. We're decent." She giggled. "Everything go okay?"

He made a bee-line directly to where she was, leaned in and kissed her cheek, then sat next to her and snaked a long arm around her as he sat back and crossed his legs. "Should be. Boss wants us in on Monday. He's got a few parts for us to look over."

She nodded. "That's what he told me too. Did he say anything to you about… us?"

"He wants to know how we want to handle the PR for this." He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her ring.

"!" It was only in that moment that Chiori had noticed the matching rings. "R-rings! You have matching rings! D-did you two…" She exclaimed excitedly.

Kuon chuckled.

Kyoko giggled. "They're promise rings, Chiori. We didn't get married, if that's what you were going to ask."

Chiori finally calmed. "You've been wearing that this whole time. How could no one notice?"

Kuon chuckled. "It'll probably be on the front page of some tabloid by tomorrow morning. In fact, probably already made its way to a website or two already." He teased.

Kyoko groaned a little, and he kissed her cheek again.

Chiori smiled, pulled out her phone and started searching out of curiosity. "Ah! You were right Tsuruga-san!" She held out her phone so that the pair could see.

"See? I told you before not to worry about it." He scolded playfully. "Won't be long before they're saying that I'm not famous enough for you." He teased.

"I doubt that'll ever happen, Fairy Boy." She retorted, causing Chiori to giggle.

How could Kyoko know that Chiori had always seen her as a beautiful little fairy? "I should get going." She told the pair, glancing at her watch. "We're taping a special episode of Are You Serious."

Kyoko smiled and waved as Chiori left. "Don't forget to text me so we can get together." She reminded.

"See you later, Senpai."

Kuon gave her a confused look. "She calls you Senpai? I thought she'd been doing this longer than you."

"I'm her LoveME Section Senpai. She's been calling me that since she joined." Kyoko explained.

"She joined… willingly?" He asked, shocked.

Kyoko nodded her answer. "She told me that it helped her get past some things she'd been trying to work on for a long time." She wanted to keep it as vague as possible, as it was Chiori's personal demons she was working on and she wasn't 100% sure of what Hikaru had mentioned when she first started working with her.

He nodded, snuggling her into him. "Hm… Boss seems to be good a fixing things." He mentioned, thinking of himself; although, he was still working on his issues with Cedric and getting a firm hold in Hollywood. His look went a little dark at the thoughts.

"You okay?" She murmured, caressing his cheek. He'd told her a lot when they were in California and when they were alone on the plane.

"Yeah…" He sighed out. "Just… Some things never change." He chuckled wryly.

She gave him a small smile. "But we adapt." She kissed his cheek.

He nodded in agreement. "We adapt." He gave a quick chaste kiss on the lips, and another, and another as his hand slid down her arm to her waist, turning into something a bit less chaste and leading to something that had been cut off and interrupted by Kuu and many others over the past few weeks.

"Mmm…" She gave him a delightful little moan that quickly alerted him of their situation and location.

He gently caressed her cheek after slightly retreating. "Whoa…" He sighed out. "We should… We should probably head out." He stood and offered his hand. "Wanna grab some lunch?"

She still had that lusty, hazy look on her when she looked up at him and gave him a sexy smile. "Sounds like a good idea."