This is the revised version, enjoy!
...
It was 6:03 in the morning on a Saturday and Kyoko's alarm was blaring. She'd woken up a full seven minutes ago, a few minutes before her alarm had even gone off, and had yet to muster up the energy to shut off the alarm. It wasn't until she heard shuffling in the hall and a door closing, that she realized the Okami-san and the Taisho would probably think it rude of her to keep letting the alarm go. She felt around for it and managed to silence it with a sturdy smack of her hand.
She continued to lay on her futon, staring listlessly at her wall. Her necklace and her bracelet twinkled merrily at her from their pedestals, and she could feel a snarl twisting on her lips. But even that brief flash of fury didn't bring out her usual swarm of grudges. Kyoko tried hard to grasp the remnants of her fury, thinking it would stoke her grudges into wakefulness, but all that she felt was left was a hollowness that seemed almost apathetic.
What is wrong with me? Her breath hitched as she thought this and she rolled huffily onto her side, facing away from the jewelry that seemed to mock her, and pulled her knees to her chest in an effort to bring herself some comfort.
This was not the first time she had thought this. Her sleep had been fitful after she'd finished her duties yesterday, and had escaped to her room to try to process what Ren had told her. It seemed that every other hour she tried to rest, she was roused by drowsy thoughts of self-doubt or soul-searching, or resurgences of anger once she realized how his revelations placed into context some scenes that had previously gone without. It was maddening.
Ren is Corn is Kuon Hizuri. The thought rolled around in her mind ceaselessly. It flashed often from there to Kuu (no wonder he had a problem with Katsuki), then to Kuu's wife Juli that she'd heard Kuu speak of. And Juli is Ren's mother. A pang of heartache swept through her often when she thought of that. They love you so much Ren. What she wouldn't have given to have known that kind of love as a child.
But then it would flash to the riverside where she met Corn. Then to Guam. These scenes of memory overlapped, and interwove until she could only hear Ren's voice saying I make whoever's around me unhappy simply by existing… Because she knew the truth of it now. Without him weaving his spell to bring Corn the Fairy Prince to life, she had her missing piece.
How could both of those things be true? How could he believe that he made everyone around him unhappy, when Kuu and Juli's joy and love for having him as a son was also true? They must have been so happy to have him, but he was so obviously unhappy, and she just didn't understand. Was that just his guilt talking because of him losing his friend?
These were the questions Kyoko grappled with as she tried to re-contextualize everything Corn had said and the reality of what Ren had told her. Frequently, even as she tried to reframe everything in her own brain to make sense of it all, more little things would pop up. No, but he was happy, those concerts with his mother...him remembering one of their favorite songs and still remembering it so fondly. His admiration he told me about Kuon having for his Father when I played Father's son. The loss of his friend must have made him suffer so much. And to have had it happen in such an awful way... all of it must have affected him more than she initially realized back when she realized some of his problems as he was working as Cain Heel.
The sweeping depth of his grief...she could barely manage to wrap her mind around it.
And to think, back in Guam, she'd been so enamored of being able to help her Fairy Prince, that she thought she had actually helped him. But this isn't as easy as a silly kiss breaking a curse, is it? Even as she struggled to adjust to how this new knowledge shed so much light on the mysteries that had stumped her about Tsuruga Ren Ren is Corn is Kuon, still she wondered how much it would change how they were and how they acted with each other.
He had kept so quiet, for so long, and had only recently been so open with her that it baffled her as to why. Do you truly trust me that much? He had said that he admired her bravery, her determination and it baffled her now that she knew the truth. She had told him so often that it was Corn that gave her that strength. He knew, had known since who knew when, that it was just the memory of her prince that gave her her strength.
Her face flamed anew as she once again remembered how much she had told Ren about Corn and what Corn meant to her, and what she had told Corn about why she admired Tsuruga Ren. How she had been grateful for what Shotaro had put her through because it meant that she got to meet Ren. Corn, who had been so angry over Shotaro's behavior both when they were kids and in the present day. Kyoko hunched in on herself even more as she remembered Ren's anger in the hotel room during that one incident that had nearly broken her phone. Knowing Corn is Kuon is Ren explained so much about the other man's anger over Shotaro. But then of course, that reignited her anger over how manipulative he could be. Kyoko huffed again.
Bo! He'd shown so much concern then and look at him now! Hypocrite, she scoffed to herself, trying to bury her guilt at the thought at the same time. And that time after the acting test and that time with the Beagle! How he had laughed at her naivete. How he had used that naivete against her to get away with things she didn't approve of. Her gaze flicked again to her necklace, then skittered away only to land on her bracelet and once more, embarrassment overwhelmed her.
But then of course, the Beagle made her think of stupid Valentine's Day, (damn you Shotaro, to the deepest level of hell). Which consequently made her think of how pushy and tricky Ren had been then, and then again in Guam. Naturally, this reminded her of Ren's behavior once he'd returned from Guam, what with the bracelet and everything that had occurred since. (She deliberately didn't think about the times she'd prodded and provoked him, just to see what he would do, and buried the Dark Moon wrap party down further).
And she didn't even want to think about how long he'd known who she'd been as a kid. How long did you purposely deceive me Ren? And he done so almost... callously. But he'd apologized for doing that hadn't he? And how long did I keep my head buried in the sand about it anyways?
It was a hellish cycle. A hellish, frustrating cycle that seemed unceasing. As she began to muster up energy to begin her day, she wondered once more how them being open with each other, truly honest and open, would change things between them. She'd been so certain the day before that she wanted to find out. But in the harsh light of the dawn, she wondered if she could find the courage to first tackle her own embarrassment (boy did the Box 'R' incidents make so much more sense in retrospect... How Ren so easily summoned fury), before she could even begin to approach the rest of the predicament she was in. But I don't want to be yet another person that's let him down.
Kyoko finally found the strength to shove these thoughts under the surface enough to answer the Okami-san's light tap on the door that let her know they were waiting on her to begin breakfast. Today she was working for the Okami-san and the Taisho, with no other obligations to attend to, thankfully. The workload was decent enough that it forced her to focus on the here and now, instead of the quandary she found herself in and for that, she was grateful.
With her lunch break, Kyoko went to check her phone for any updates on her work, or any messages from anyone important and she froze in uncertainty when she saw a text from the man that had preoccupied her thoughts so frequently that day.
It was short, and simple. Hope your day is going well. On reflex, she answered with It is. Hope yours is too. Then stared down in horror as the text sent. Were they just going to pretend that nothing had happened? Or was this just an attempt at normalcy? As Kyoko sat there, food getting cold, her self-doubt began to overwhelm her. It wasn't until the Taisho sat another bowl of rice down next to her with an abrupt thwack against the counter, that she started pulling herself out of her spiraling panic.
"Eat." He said gruffly. Kyoko nearly swallowed wrong in her haste to obey him.
"Put that away." Kyoko again obeyed the order and slid her phone into her pocket as discreetly as she could manage. She took another couple bites of her lunch before he spoke again.
"You were up all night."
Kyoko blinked a little and then responded hesitantly, "Ah, I'm sorry, some things happened yesterday that I'm trying to uh, set to rights in my own brain…"
The Taisho harrumphed and there was silence for a moment. Then,
"Did someone upset you?"
Kyoko stared down at her food as she tried to figure out how to answer that.
"If you mean like, if someone deliberately set out to do so, no...not necessarily. Some things just came up that I had um...really been trying to do my best to avoid...I suppose...um...you could say it was inevitable and well...it might be more accurate to say...it was a case of 'better now than never'?"
The Taisho squinted as he tried to figure out the state of the young girl's mind, who was shoveling rice into her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from talking.
"...I see." He did not. He took a stab in the dark.
"You are upset with yourself because you feel you should have known better?"
Kyoko's chopsticks clattered in her bowl as she stared up at the Taisho in surprise.
"Oh. Um, maybe?"
"And did you have any previous knowledge of whatever it is you were trying to avoid?"
"Er...not entirely…"
"Then why would you have known better?"
There was a long silence before Kyoko's face broke out into a wide smile, "I don't know."
The Taisho returned her smile, then went to wash the dishes from the lunch rush. His duty was done.
Mind now more at ease, Kyoko took up the rest of her work that day feeling refreshed. Okami-san was gently supportive of her- which Kyoko appreciated considering her mood for most of the day, and the Taisho sent her reassuring looks when they weren't swamped. It was a wonderful change of pace that Kyoko was supremely grateful for.
Even better, Kyoko discovered a hazy thought of an idea in how to start handling her situation once she started working on homework later that night. She stared down at her English homework, slightly aggravated that something so complicated seemed like it could have such an easy solution if only she'd quit getting caught up in self-defeating habits.
Paradigm shift is a phrase mostly used in conjunction with scientific thought or philosophy. Explain your understanding of 'paradigm shift' in at least two to three sentences. She smiled slightly as she wrote in the answer. A paradigm shift is a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumptions. Furthermore, it describes a time in which the usual way of thinking or doing something requires a change in its entirety.
Of course she was going to be confused about this. Of course she would need to approach her situation differently if some paths blocked her way to success. How else was she to move forward? The most prevalent thought she'd had all day, amidst all her frustration, and self-doubt (and many text messages to Moko-san), was that she was tired. She was tired of her own habits being part of her problem. She was tired of trying to figure out what she could have done differently. For that matter, she was tired of second-guessing Ren's behavior now that she was able to re-contextualize things that had happened between them knowing what she knew now.
Ren's text tone interrupted her thoughts and she automatically went to answer what he'd sent her but then stopped and paused as she mulled it over. Often in the past, people around her had accused of her of leaping without thinking. Or of being thoughtless. With the situation she was in now, she had a feeling it'd do her better to sit back, think it over, and then work out a path forward that she was comfortable with.
Her eyes flicked to his text, studying it for moment longer, and for the first time that day she felt confident as she thought of the first step she could take on that path. She sat her phone back down on her desk.
She did not send him an answering message that night. Or the next.
The group of the them were stepping off the set they'd been on for their modeling shoot when Nick brought it up.
"So did you get that email?" He cut a quick glance to Ren, who had been running his hands agitatedly through his hair, trying to get it to lay right with the slick gel they'd slathered on it. Ren had to think a moment before he realized what the other man meant.
"Oh, about Oguso moving up its timeline? Yeah, sure did. Will that still work with your schedule?"
Nick shrugged, "Might miss a rehearsal or two, but if they want us on location that quickly, the quicker the project will get completed, so there's that."
"Yeah, true."
The two parted ways then as Ren needed to check in with Yashiro, who had been accompanying Kyoko that day.
"Ren." The other man's voice was stern and unyielding as he answered Ren's call. Ren winced but asked his question anyway.
"How is she?"
"Busy. She and Kotonami-san are still doing their interview for Lotus in the Mire. How's the R'Mandy shoot going?"
"Ah, decently. No problems."
There was a heavy silence. With the lack of communication between Kyoko and he over the past few days, Ren all the more keenly felt Yashiro's disapproval over his recent behavior.
"Yashiro-san…"
"Have you talked to the president yet about this Oguso project?" Ren's jaw grew taut as he grit his teeth and tried to restrain his frustration over Yashiro interrupting him. Due to this, his answer came out more exasperated than he otherwise would have liked.
"I was under the impression I didn't have much to discuss with him, as you've kept him quite up to date on my life these past few weeks."
"Don't be a fool Ren. I was just doing my job when giving my reports to my boss. It is you who he has repeatedly informed me that he wants to talk with. So, have you?"
Ren's frustrated silence was broken only by a curt, "I've done so, yes."
The experience had been excruciating right up until Lory had given him a comforting slap on the back and had said Kuon, relax, I trust you to know what you're doing. Ren had done so, until Lory had smirked and said, Have fun explaining it to your parents. Since then, Ren had buried himself in work to avoid thinking about it.
"Good." Yashiro satisfied tone of voice made Ren's eyebrow twitch in aggravation.
"I guess this is goodbye then. Have a good day, Yashiro-san. Tell Kyoko I hope she has a good day as well."
"Tell her yourself." With that final parting jab, Ren's call to his manager disconnected.
He had to admit, that stung. He knew he had been causing Yashiro some exasperation, and perhaps even problems, for the repeated rearrangement of his schedule, (had he though? wasn't that his job?) but Ren hadn't expected Yashiro's rude dismissal of his requests.
However, he is very protective over Kyoko, Ren pondered this some more. He figured it was a good explanation as any he'd thought of so far for Yashiro's behavior in the past few days. If the man wasn't smirking at him every time Ren rushed to his phone in between scenes while on a job, thinking Kyoko might have left him a message and then sighing despondently when she hadn't, he was making pointed remarks about trust and sincerity.
Ren groaned and ran his hand through his hair again. Everything had hit the fan in the most spectacular fashion and he couldn't even begin to wrap his head around it yet. Sighing as he was called by his director, he dropped his phone with his stuff on his chair and took a swig from his water bottle. Ren could only hope he would make it to the Oguso readthrough in a few days without too much more going to hell in a hand-basket.
Yashiro disconnected his call from Ren with a certain amount of vicious satisfaction. He didn't show it often, but his pettiness could rival Ren's at times. Perhaps that was why he could predict Ren so well on occasion. At least Yashiro had been able to smooth out Shingai's ruffled feathers the day of the audition. Thankfully, the only fallout that remained from that disastrous end to that event was between Yashiro, Ren, and Kyoko. Yashiro had been up in arms about it, tried to soothe Kyoko's upset over well- whatever it was Ren had upset her over, had taken Ren to task for that upset, and basically indulged in a schoolboy amount of pettiness towards Ren for going on a week now.
In other news, he'd asked Lory what he thought of Ren's role and his choice to take on Oguso as a project, only to be surprised by Lory shrugging and mentioning he'd had his suspicions since the MASH incident Yashiro had told him of. Yashiro had been slightly irritated that he hadn't been informed of these suspicions; especially since the president had known how in the dark Ren had kept him all summer. But, Yashiro also knew that the LME president was a keeper of Ren's secrets, and when it came down to it, as least someone could help him with that, even if Yashiro himself couldn't.
His thoughts were broken by footsteps behind him. He turned around to see his charges coming towards him, chatting amiably. Yashiro smiled as he and LoveMe one and two started debating what to do for lunch as they wandered over to the studio's cafeteria.
Decision made, the three of them settled in to eat and discuss the schedule for the rest of the day. Kotonami-san needed to be at Fuji TV for the rest of the day, and Kyoko needed dropped off at TBM later in the evening. Plans all worked out, Yashiro started to finish his desert, only to be struck by a brilliant way to give Kyoko one over on Ren.
"Kyoko-chan, do you remember when Ren and I visited you at the Darumaya that time after you saw your mother?"
Kyoko and Kanae exchanged a curious look. Kyoko replied hesitantly.
"...Yes?"
A truly evil smirk began to grow on Yashiro's face and he tried to tone it down as he saw he was unnerving them. "Ahem, well, were you a bit blindsided by Ren's demands at the time for what he wanted to see in messages between you two?"
Kanae stared as Kyoko began to flush in embarrassment. "Do what now?" the brunette asked as she looked between her friend and Yashiro.
"Ren was upset that he didn't get emoticons in messages from her!" Yashiro did his best to restrain his amusement so he could get the rest of it out. "Would you like to know why?"
Kyoko mumbled something that could have been a 'no' but Kotonami-san spoke over her at the same time, "Yes, absolutely."
"Because he was shooting a commercial with Kijima-san from Dark Moon and you guys were messaging each other at the time and Ren got all worked up because your messages with Kijima-san were so much more casual!" Yashiro's glee was through the roof as he saw amusement filling Kotonami-san's face. Kyoko had even stopped blushing and was now staring, looking adorably bewildered.
"Really?"
Yashiro nodded, more calm now that he saw Kyoko looking more entertained at this thought.
"No lie, I was the witness to both of these events, and I swear this to be true." Trying to be more playful as Kyoko was more perked up by this than she'd been nearly all week, Yashiro held up a hand as if he were swearing an oath.
Kyoko giggled. Kotonami-san shook her head in disbelief but smiled down at Kyoko at the same time. She then spoke, "Unbelievable...and to think...he looks like he should be so much more mature than that…"
Yashiro and Kyoko exchanged a knowing look.
"He really can be at times, and at others well…" Kyoko laughed a little as she said this.
"Not so much." Yashiro filled in the rest.
"Wow. Well, good luck, I have a feeling you'll need it." Kotonami directed this at Kyoko and Yashiro relaxed back into his chair as the two girls moved on to a different topic
Ren: 0, Me: Too many to count. Yashiro smirked to himself. Ren would need to bring his a-game to get back into their good graces. And Yashiro was planning to have him stew in it a while.
"President Takarada."
"Takashi-san."
Greetings uttered, the two individuals situated themselves on the furniture in Lory's office. Chiyo carefully analyzed the man before her. Shingai-san had said only that the LME president wished to meet with her as he had not yet had the opportunity to do so. Chiyo's finely-tuned intuition was telling her something different, however. She was positive that something else was afoot. She'd heard rumors of how sly and subtle the LME president could truly be, in spite of his disarming and charming appearance.
It seemed as if he too was analyzing her just as thoroughly as she was him, but he was the first to speak up.
"You're quite the writer, I daresay. Leaves on the Wind performed extremely well at the festivals last year. You even won an award for it, if I recall correctly. I believe I remember a critic praising it as '...remarkably poignant through its use of poetic metaphors and lack of cumbersome dialogue.' That's some high praise in my books."
Takarada folded his hands under his chin as he looked her over. Chiyo narrowed her eyes. She'd been in the business a while, and she was almost always sure when someone was buttering her up for a hidden purpose. However, she had no wish to antagonize him either. After all, she had some of his talents cast for Oguso.
"Thank you, that's kind indeed coming from a man of your stature."
Silence fell on them again. The clock on the wall ticked down another minute. And then another. His manservant approached them with tea, and Chiyo gratefully took her cup to have a sip. She had no idea why she was there. If there were an ulterior motive, Chiyo didn't think she was going to be able to sniff it out in one meeting alone. Her cup clattered on its saucer as Takarada startled her slightly by talking again.
"You don't relax much outside of your work do you?"
Chiyo blinked, stared at her teacup, and then stared at the man seated across from her. This had not been said unkindly, and amusement hid in the corners of his mouth. She relaxed marginally and sent him a shy smile.
"I'm afraid not, no. Most of my days are filled with my work. I finished the Oguso script just last year, and still, even as that project goes into its filming phase, my pen moves my hand, drafting and redrafting parts of it. It seems the more I work through this newest phase of it, the more inspired I become."
Intrigue spread over Takarada's face. "You have not finalized the script? And it's already to the filming stage?"
Chiyo huffed, partly annoyed at herself for the whimsy, partly entertained by it. "It's the ending you see. It's mercurial. The more I grasp at the bare-bones of its branches, the more new branches seem to grow, spiraling off down new paths."
"Why? If you don't mind a curious old man asking, that is." The president's teasing tone made Chiyo chuckle.
"Come off it, if you're older than I am, I'll eat my shoe."
A laugh burst free of the man, and Chiyo smiled. She wasn't often able to make others do that.
"Fair enough Takashi-san. I forgot that you're probably older than the average age of most of my talents."
Chiyo stilled her nervously jittery leg as his gaze hit hers in sudden seriousness, "I must confess, curiosity is one of my flaws though. I'd love to listen to what you have to say about it."
Chiyo thought that over, "Well...the people involved with it right now, as it's not just my baby alone anymore, like my editing team, and Shingai-san, and the people we've cast so far, even Tsuruga-san, their perspectives and ideas keep the inspiration flowing.
"My Director of Photography has this whole visual theme he thinks would look fantastic with some old photographic plates, and my set designer and he are often in cahoots pulling stuff in like that that's era-specific to the setting. And our Hair & Makeup staff keep giving them more ideas. Shingai-san and his assistant director keep looking up everything to do with flowers, and are pushing me to hire a professional ikebana artist. Honestly, the creativity running through this entire group, it just makes me think of everything that could happen, or what I want to happen." Chiyo sighed as she thought about it all.
"When I was hired to write for the production company that first funded the efforts for it, they just wanted a mini-series written by the award-winning creative mind of last year's festivals. Of course I agreed, I was essentially being given a blank check and that was just... wonderful. And I had already been working on the idea...and now...it's a bit bittersweet to actually think of writing that last word and putting that ending flourish on the manuscript." She sighed again.
But then Takarada interrupted her musings, "I see. When the idea first formed in your head, did you have an ending?"
Chiyo laughed, "No, not at all. I had one scene."
"What was it?"
"'My name is Junichi.'"
The LME president squinted at her a little, "I'm afraid I don't follow."
"Oh yes, well, I kind of expected that, I'm afraid." She smiled softly, and knew that the man in front of her realized he wasn't going to get an answer to that.
Takarada hummed thoughtfully, "So what was the first ending you thought of?"
"A little boy looking at a yellow ribbon."
"...Fascinating."
"Is it? I thought it too pretentious." Chiyo cleared her throat self-consciously as Takarada continued to gaze at her like she was the most interesting thing he'd seen in awhile.
"Why should you be concerned with pretenses?"
Chiyo found that she had to stop herself from shrugging. She didn't want to be impolite or come across as dismissive, "Well...it's a bit hard to explain. But metaphors, visual and otherwise, they can be heavy-handed at times. So much of this work is also allegorical that I want to use metaphors sparingly."
Takarada tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the arms of his chair. "And Tsuruga-san, has he inspired a different ending in you like some of your other people have? You listed him but then didn't give an example of how he's inspired you."
Chiyo felt her lips tightening as she grew nervous with the change in the direction of the conversation. Shingai had said that Tsuruga was a pet project for the LME president. She stepped lightly, "His passion for the art of what he does has certainly made me view it through a different lens." She blushed a little at remembering how much praise he'd given the work at the meeting they'd both attended. His words had been very...fervent.
"I see…" Chiyo then remembered the device she had brought along.
"Here," she fished her recorder out of her purse, "This is more what I mean."
A few minutes later, Takarada had taken to staring at the recorder like he'd been staring at her. "...He willingly made himself an executive producer for this?"
"Indeed. Partly for funding, but mostly for casting purposes. He wanted to be part of that decision-making process."
"He did? He actually wanted to do more than just act?"
Chiyo found herself at a bit of a loss. The LME president seemed slightly dumbfounded. "Ah, yes. That's what he expressed to us. He said it was critical to the success of this work for it to be as authentic as possible."
Takarada sat back in his chair with a sigh. "Remarkable. And he specifically said critical to its success?"
"Quite so."
Takarada laughed, "Boy how these young things grow. One day you're worrying over them like an over-stressed mother hen, but you take your eyes off them for a second and then they're off becoming executive producers."
Amusement filled Chiyo as she watched Takarada shake his head in disbelief. After a moment she spoke up.
"You're running this agency quite well sir. Not only did we cast Tsuruga, but we also cast your talents Mogami-san and Kotonami-san, who I think you took a special interest in if I recall what they told me correctly. Whatever you're doing here with them, I think it's paying off."
The look on Takarada's face was more akin to marveling by now. "Is that right?" he murmured and Chiyo nodded her assurances.
"Well then Takashi-san, it seems like they'll be in your hands. Take care of them for me, will you?" The look on his face transitioned to something that resembled a bittersweet look, and Chiyo felt herself swell up in pride.
"I will do my best sir, we won't let you down."
"I'm looking forward to it."
Kanae was leaving the Uesugi dojo after her training session when she noticed him coming in.
As she preferred to slide through uncomfortable situations on politeness, she dipped her head to acknowledge him but kept her mouth shut. But, fortune was not with her today.
"Kotonami-san, do you have a moment?"
Kanae grit her teeth but the truth was, this was only a half day for her and she really didn't want to be impolite on the grounds of the dojo.
"I do, did you need something Tsuruga-san?"
Relief filled his face, and Kanae was a bit taken aback at how comfortable he seemed to be in her presence.
They moved off to a side porch of the dojo that had relative privacy. Then he spoke again.
"I'm actually worried about Mogami-san, I've not really talked with her recently. I know you two are trying to wrap up with Lotus in the Mire before the Oguso location shoot, but are you two really busy right now or anything?"
If Kanae had had less self-control, she might have sneered at him then. Kyoko hadn't let on about too much about what had happened between her and Tsuruga-san that time at the audition. What she had done though, was return to the state of a shrinking violet when he'd been brought up as a topic of discussion. Well, with the exception of what Yashiro had related to them at lunch the other day.
In regards to how upset she'd been the day after the audition though, all Kanae could get out of her, because she was too leery about being pushy about it right now, was that Tsuruga-san had "sort of disappointed her, but really Moko-san, I should have seen it coming…". Despite her best efforts, Kanae's eyes narrowed as she remembered that text conversation.
She watched, her protectiveness soothed by the sight of him growing increasingly uncomfortable with her long silence. But, she also didn't want to stand there with the man all damn day either.
"We've been busy, yes." Her voice was curt as she responded.
She was amused by how uncomfortable he continued to be as he noticed her standoffish behavior.
"Ah...I see. Um, well, I'd like to do something nice and relaxing for her then, what with her being so busy. Any recommendations?"
Kanae's amusement turned to amazement as she watched him press the issue, even as discomforted as he was. She huffed and crossed her arms. This made Tsuruga wince. She raised an eyebrow. He nervously ran a hand through his hair. But still he did not make his apologies for disturbing her and he did not say his goodbyes. Any time she gave someone the cold shoulder, this was a predictable outcome. Why was this man so infuriatingly unpredictable?
As she thought this over, he asked her another question, "Um, does she just not want to bother with me right now or something? I can't really figure out why else you would be so upset on her behalf. Last time the three of us really talked, you seemed like you were just fine with me helping her out-"
"Cut the garbage." Tsuruga stared at her, mouth agape at her interruption. As much as she'd tried to be polite, his general state of bewilderedness either meant nothing too bad had happened, or he really was just that dense and actually needed the help.
"All she's told me was that you did something that 'disappointed' her. I have no other information on the topic. So tell me, what do you think will make her talk to you again?"
"I mean...I already apologized...I'm not sure-"
"And I don't care. Figure it out. I can't help you." With that, Kanae turned on her heel, trying to not feel guilty for being impolite. That man! His uncertainty just struck a nerve in her. If he didn't even know how to set things right, why should she help him out? No wonder Kyoko said he was such a child sometimes. He might be a crazy successful actor, but he really didn't know how to handle relationship issues. That was painfully apparent.
She sighed as she rounded the corner. But if Kyoko liked him, really really liked him, shouldn't she help her out? Will this help her though? Kanae huffed angrily, then stomped back around the corner.
"She likes looking at the stars!" Kanae snapped at a startled looking Tsuruga-san. "Last sleepover we had, we spent some time on my balcony with hot chocolate as she told me about the stories in the stars."
Tsuruga stared at her and Kanae whirled back around, and continued to stomp away. She heard a faint call of gratitude from him and it made her want to gnash her teeth in frustration.
I hope this works out for you Kyoko. If he really makes you as happy as you looked in that picture, the more power to him. You deserve the happiness.
Takimoto Misaki was flipping through her notes on her costars, content to be distracted as her stylist worked on a hairstyle for her Akari-san role in Spring at Mt. Oguso. She wasn't too sure yet if the awe and amazement had worn off of the fact she had actually been cast, had signed the contract, and was now having stylists work out a style for her before her first sit-down readthrough rehearsal. She paused in rereading her notes as she took in the smells of the cosmetics around her, and the feel of an unfamiliar individual working their fingers through her hair, separating out small pieces and weaving them into a bun, leaving out a few strands of hair to be curled and pinned up. The same awed feeling swept through her and she figured that it would take a while before she'd get used to it.
It was quite the experience so far. She'd had to come in early, because she'd been one of the last cast that it needed doing for, and they were squeezing her in where they could. But, it was worth the early morning rush to get ready, to be able to sit in a relatively calm room, listening to the gossip the stylists tossed around, and eavesdropping on people as they filtered in and out of the waiting room that their section was separated by with a very thin divider. She just so happened to be located on the left side of this room, rather close to said divider, and that was an opportune location for such activities.
She was thoroughly enjoying adding little notes to the notes she'd already compiled as she recognized voices of her costars from the other side of the divider, or as she talked with them as they sat with a stylist in the chair to her right. Apparently, Mano-san very much was crushing on Kotonami-san. Kawaguchi-san and Sugaya-san who played the patriarch and matriarch of the Yoneda family respectively, were very happy to be working on another production together as they hadn't had the opportunity to in some time. And Atsushi-san really hadn't the foggiest notion as to why such a newcomer was chosen to play Yayoi-sama and Oohara-san had laughed herself into tears as he'd tried to explain why.
She was notating something that had come out in passing with Kotonami-san when she heard the door on the other side of the divider open again. She'd already been in her chair for an hour and a half by now and was assuming she'd be done soon as everyone else had filtered through already. The stylist to her right had just cleared out Sugaya-san, and Misaki thought she had heard her murmur to her coworker that there were only a couple people left to see. It was a couple minutes later that she felt her stylist pause in pinning up her curls for a moment, that she heard the familiar voice on the other side of the divider.
"...many times do I have to say it?"
She knew that voice, and as she glanced quickly up in the mirror, and saw the two stylists exchange a telling look, she knew she placed the voice correctly. Tsuruga Ren was in the other room.
"Say what Tsuruga-san?" the other voice was so impersonal and polite Misaki immediately flashed back to the time her family had stayed in a fancy inn in which all of the attendants had spoken in that fashion, to a point that it had creeped her out.
"How many times will I have to say sorry for Guam? You haven't even answered your phone when I've called you in the past few days."
"I've been busy." Misaki's brow furrowed as she thought it over, but she was almost positive the other voice was the girl who had been cast for Yoneda Yayoi-sama.
"Did you forget we share a manager?" Tsuruga-san's voice was obviously exasperated now. Misaki caught the other stylist in her room making a hurry-it-up motion to her stylist and hers quickly turned back to her work, pinning strands hither and thither.
"Did you forget that I told you you don't need to keep apologizing for Guam?" the girl's voice seemed both sincerely sweet but also mocking in a strange fashion and boy did that give Misaki a fantastic insight into their relationship
"Look, I know I've upset you-"
A sharp snap of a book closing cut Tsuruga-san off. "Honestly Tsuruga-san? Why did you even start this up if that's the only thing you've got to say?"
"Seriously? You've not answered your phone, you've not responded to my texts, yesterday Yashiro-san asked you if you'd like to join us for dinner after work and you said you had tutoring!"
"Well, there you have it, I was busy." The response was so snooty that both Misaki and her stylist had to smother their amused responses. When Misaki glanced up in the mirror again, the two of them shared a secretive smile. The other stylist had dropped all pretense of prepping her station, and was shamelessly eavesdropping.
"You have tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays Mogami-san. Today is Tuesday. It's not like you to lie about something as silly as that. You could have just said no." Tsuruga-san's hurt-sounding voice made Misaki wince. She definitely did not want to be on the receiving end of that tone of voice, and it stoked her curiosity about what she was overhearing all the more. Misaki was a newcomer to the business, but even she knew that the mighty Tsuruga Ren was oftentimes seen alone. He was occasionally seen with Takarada-sama, his agency president, or with his manager Yashiro Yukihito, but practically with no one else. Who was this girl that seemed so close to him?
"Well, it seems all of us are discovering new sides to ourselves these days." Her response to Tsuruga-san's comment was airy and lofty, and just this side of deliberately provocative, as far as Misaki could figure.
Misaki strained her ears to hear more, but the other side of the divider was damningly silent. When Tsuruga-san did respond, his voice was low and fierce, "That was uncalled for. I was just asking for some honesty. Why lie?"
"Indeed Tsuruga-san, why lie?"
It took Misaki-san a moment, but she soon realized that both she and the stylists in the room were holding their breath as they waited to hear the response. This was interrupted by the screeching sound of chairlegs, as one of the duo on the other side of the divider stood up and started approaching their side of the room. The stylist that had been shamelessly eavesdropping turned tail and exited from the door on the opposite side, making panicked gestures towards them to do the same.
Misaki and her stylist looked at each other for a moment, but then hastily followed suit. The only thing worse than actually eavesdropping, was being caught doing it. Not even Misaki was curious enough to risk that.
Ren stood and stepped away from Kyoko, in an effort to better clear his mind. This was not going at all like he thought it would. He blew out a frustrated breath and ran a hand through his hair before turning to face her again.
"Look, I am so, so sorry. I just can't stand us being at odds. I just want to know how I can make up for upsetting you."
Kyoko tapped her fingers thoughtfully against the book in her lap and then looked back up at the man in front of her. She'd been unable to resist taking some jabs at him, and she knew it was petty. But she sure was tired of how presumptuous he was being.
Clearly he had a problem with them not communicating as they had been. But she'd known that might be a probable outcome when she'd chosen to do that. Truly, how many times had he made reference to the fact that her being guarded and non-communicative around him was not how he felt friends should act?
"I'm going to put a theory out there. Let me know if I've got it right, okay Tsuruga-san?" She cocked her head at him curiously.
"Of course, whatever you need."
"You believe us to be at odds because I've not responded to you as I used to after...certain things came to light?"
"Well...yeah. That is what happened."
"Then I have to ask Tsuruga-san...what exactly did you expect to happen?" She arched an eyebrow up as he seemed to flounder around trying to find an answer.
"Well, I don't know what I expected...I just… I had hoped we could go on like normal. Like we used to do."
Kyoko tapped her fingers against her book again as she looked down at it and then looked back up at him. He had answered as predictably as she thought he would.
"Your impatience continues to surprise," she found herself murmuring.
"As does your acerbic wit," he responded acidly.
"Tsuruga-san, the amount of sheer recontextualization I've had to do has been exhausting. Surely, surely, that is something you are aware of?"
"Well I certainly could have helped with that if you had just asked!"
"The hotel room," she dared, heart in her throat.
He froze midstep in his aggravated pacing.
"I can very clearly now distinguish your Kuon side. You broke character. You got... Wildly inappropriate, let's say. Because of Sho simply calling my phone."
His gaze darted to her face, expression unreadable, before he flinched away from the disappointment in her features.
"You will never, ever use your insecurities against me like that again. I do not care what it was about that, that caused it to occur. You will handle it."
Kyoko observed him carefully as his shoulders hunched in his shame, "Of course Mogami-san. That...I...".
Kyoko interrupted, "Tsuruga-san, when a paradigm shift occurs, things change. And change takes time to process. Isn't that correct?"
He looked up, startled out of whatver it was he was contemplating saying.
"Of course...should we need some more time to ah... "
His sentence drifted off as he glanced back at her hopefully, and she stifled a sigh.
"How about this. How about I reinstate our dare?"
Ren stared for a moment, utterly bewildered, "What?"
"When you discovered my role as Bo, you made me a dare. Sort of, more like a bet or a deal I guess. But, since you didn't believe I needed to make up for keeping the truth from you, but I still felt that there should be a consequence, you created a dare. If you surprised me while in a professional setting, to the extent that I broke character, you were allowed to ask me something. You and I are friends. We won't stop being friends, even though I'm still pretty angry about this secret you were actively lying to me about.
"So, how about I reinstate our little dares, or our little challenges if you will?"
Ren looked her over thoughtfully, somewhat uneasy with her confident smirk and the challenging look in her eye. It was as if, in all this time that he'd been fretting over what had happened and their lack of communication, she'd just been thinking and planning. As he felt a familiar fire stir to life inside of him at the look in her eye, he acknowledged that she had him over a barrel. He'd agree to practically anything if it made up for what he'd done so he could continue trying to develop things with her with a clear conscience.
"Fine. I accept."
Kyoko struggled mightily with suppressing the flush of victory she felt in that moment.
"I'm quite exasperated that you seemed to think I wanted yet more apologies. Instead of presuming to know how I feel, and then acting accordingly, I dare you to be brave Ren. Tell me what you've felt, what you've really, truly felt. If I am satisfied that you have been sincere, then I will be open and sincere as well. I will tell you my feelings. Can you do that? Can you be brave for me Ren?" She stood up from her chair so they were standing on equal ground, and raised her chin high and looked him in the eye.
If Ren hadn't been positive that she'd spit in his face for it, he'd have kissed her then. As it was, he felt his heart trip over itself as he stared at her in astonishment for the surety, the certainty that she exuded. She knew that he would do what she asked. The experience was humbling and thrilling and electrifying all at the same time. He started talking before he even realized what he was saying.
"I missed you. I knew it was stupid, because I do, truly, know how deep your anger can burn... But I even missed our stupid emoticon battles. I missed helping you with homework when you asked. I missed us talking about music we like." He vaguely realized that she was stepping closer, a soft smile spreading across her face.
"I missed us telling each other stories about our work. I missed gossiping with you. I missed your laugh." He didn't know if she reached out first or if he did, but her arms wrapped around him and he tucked his arms around her so that her head nestled beneath his.
"I missed your voice being the last thing I heard before I went to sleep. I missed you. I missed us." His words left him with a shuddery sigh and he squeezed her tight. Mercifully, she let him do so for a time before speaking up.
"Thank you for being brave. You don't know what that meant to me." Ren looked down at the woman in his arms and found himself with words again.
"I think...I think I'd really like to learn."
"I promise I get where you're coming from Shingai-san, but the editing team is saying that the flow feels off with this format. And also, some of our financiers are from an older generation. Our production assistant said it would be a nice touch to give Yoneda Michitada more narration in deference to them, and this new format does seem to flow better that way." Takashi-san's cajoling tone wasn't doing much to assuage Seiji's disgruntlement and he found himself crossing his arms.
"I liked this better when only we two had access to all six acts."
Seiji's ears caught a small chuckle coming from her direction and he relaxed some.
"But, I don't mind trying this narration thing, but I also think it should be one of the first things on the chopping block if we need to trim for running time." Seiji shot Takashi a telling look but was not reassured when she looked away.
"Ah...we can see what we can do, but there's a lot of people already really sold on the idea."
Seiji harrumphed, "I'm sure you're one of them. You're irrationally fond of the little character diaries you wrote up."
Seiji saw the exact moment when her temper flared, "Irrationally?! Those provide a great way to sort out thoughts that will help certain cast members in their characterization."
Seiji deliberately rolled his eyes, uncaring of the rudeness, "This project is your baby. Admit it!"
"Oh, like it's not yours?!"
Seiji winced. She had him there. He couldn't remember the last time he got fussy over a format change. He was just the director for heaven's sake. He had some input in post-processing but normally he just left it up to that team to get the final work produced and edited. He normally didn't care one whit if one scene got moved to a different part of work.
"You make a good point," He said grudgingly.
"I'm glad you can see that."
Their argument/discussion was soon put on hold as the conference room door opened to let some of the first stragglers in to get ready for the read-through. Shingai snapped to attention to start showing people where to sit.
He made sure to be extra solicitous to the ones he didn't know too well just yet. It wouldn't do for this read-through to go sideways just because people they'd cast didn't know his directing style. As he was sending a bright smile to Takimoto-san and Sugaya-san-who appeared to be getting along well, he heard some faint voices in the hallway and his ears pricked up in interest.
"...you and Nick-san have really known each other that long?"
"Cross my heart, hope to die. Sure have. It's why I was so relieved he passed the audition. He and I used to hit up boxing gyms when we were out on location and see which one of us was faster." Shingai heard a very familiar chuckle.
"And how'd that work out?" said Mogami-san.
"Well, he tripped me up a time or two, but really, I'm not Tsuruga Ren for nothing. I gave back as good as I got."
Shingai was surprised to hear such boasting, even as mild as it was, from someone like the idolized number one actor of Japan. What on earth made him so unreserved? And what kind of groveling has he done to get back in Kyoko-chain's good graces?
Shingai wondered and wondered, as the two individuals in question came in and took their seats. He continued to look them over as the rest of the cast they'd called in for the read-through filed in. Once his assistant shut the door and confirmed all were present however, Shingai got to work. They were all splitting up for location shooting at the end of the week, and the read-throughs he wanted to get through beforehand were critical, in his mind.
Once everybody had introduced themselves and their characters, he nodded to let Kawaguchi-san start the session.
With a slight clearing of his throat, Kawaguchi-san began, "Always there comes an hour when one is weary of one's work and devotion to duty…"
"Otou-sama, will you please do your translation in your head? I'm trying to balance the books." Oohara-san said, matching Yoneda Michitada's oldest daughter's exasperation to perfection. A smirk briefly passed over Shingai's face. She'd just reminded him of his own family getting exasperated at him.
Kawaguchi-san sniffed dramatically, causing a couple of giggles around the table at the humor glinting in his eyes, "...When one is WEARY of one's WORK and DEVOTION…"
Kyoko let out a laugh, "Otou-sama! You're so mean to onee-chan!"
Sugaya-san huffed right on cue, "Girls! We still have our own duties to take care of before we're all closed up tonight. Leave your father to his work, hm?"
"Yes okaa-sama." said the girls, at the same time. Oohara-san and Kyoko-san shared an excited glance at how smoothly they had accomplished that, and the director caught the look.
Shingai returned his attention to the dialogue, making sure to correct mistakes or missteps as needed, but he tightly curled his fingers over his pen to hide the excited trembling of his hand. It was perfectly clear to him that even with their long wait to be able to have the cast they'd really wanted, all the effort had been worth it. He took a good long look around the room, and at how smoothly the dialogue flowed, and couldn't help but smile. Good. Very good. Show me what you're made of. Hold nothing back.
Kyoko looked anxiously at the clock in her room, and then to her textbook, and then to her phone. He was late. He'd said he might be, considering what the rest of his jobs were for the day. But, cloud cover was being predicted to move in later in the night and she had really wanted Orion to be out and bright tonight.
Ren's text tone sounded and she saw a brief, you're gonna be picked up soon, best go wait outside and she let out a sigh of relief. Then her eyes narrowed. Was he texting and driving at the same time?! She grabbed her schoolbook, her phone and purse, and scampered down the steps of the Darumaya to wait for him, her scolding thoughts growing ever stronger. Boy was he going to be in for the biggest lecture of his life if he was.
She stepped out of the side entrance, hoping she hadn't woken up the Okami-san or the Taisho with her noise. They were fairly used to her leaving at this time of night for her astronomy homework anyhow, but still, she tried her best to not wake them. She craned her neck to look back and forth down the side street and saw an unfamiliar car pull up. She cocked her head and frowned as she looked at it, but then saw Ruto-san stepping out of the driver's side.
Mystery explained, she waved at him. He bowed slightly and ushered her into the vehicle.
"Ren-sama said he'd meet you there." He said as he got back in and they pulled away from the Darumaya.
"Well thank you very much for the ride!"
"It's not a problem. Whatever LME can provide for our talents, especially when it's helpful for your education, we're happy to provide."
The formality of the response was typical, but still, Kyoko had to smother her amusement. Ruto-san always said things in such a particular way that it often entertained her. The rest of the ride went by fairly quietly, and it wasn't too much later that Ruto-san dropped her off at the park she usually had to take a bus to get to. It wasn't usually a hardship to do, but still, it was nice to have been escorted.
She noticed only a couple of other vehicles near the Observatory and she picked out Ren's fairly easily, and jogged over there. As she wandered around it, trying to figure out where he might have gone off to, she was surprised by a strip of cloth covering her eyes. If she hadn't recognized the scent of his aftershave, she might have elbowed him hard enough to do some actual damage.
"Tsuruga-san."
"Mogami-san."
"I hope you're aware of exactly how terrible this looks." Kyoko said, a little nettled by the behavior.
"As a matter of fact I am," He replied, amusement obvious in his tone as he tied the strip around her head, careful not to pull her hair. She felt him gently push her forward onto the grass from the parking lot, taking care to hold her elbow and letting her know where to step occasionally.
"However, as bad as it looks, how else was I to surprise you?" He asked her.
"Surprise? I thought you just wanted to help me with my astronomy work! You specifically said, 'You know, I took that, I'd be happy to help you out.'"
"I did, didn't I?"
Kyoko sighed as she felt around for the bench he'd stopped her near. She gingerly sat down and was ill-prepared for him to then whisper in her ear.
"You ready?"
She shivered to feel his breath so close, but then sighed again, "Tsuruga-san, I don't know what this is about. Can you tell me why exactly I would know if I was ready?"
He barked out a laugh at the same time as he whipped off the strip of cloth. "Well be ready."
Kyoko stared, astonished at what was before her. She'd known there was a small garden near the observatory, specifically for night-time viewing parties, but she'd never been in it. She didn't know how he'd done it on such short notice, but dainty tea lights were floating around the small stream winding around the garden, going to a little waterfall, then back around again. In the garden, aside from the couple of viewing benches, were a couple of tables and on them were steaming mugs and some small plates with desserts.
"How on earth?!" She gaped, looked around her again, then stared back at him, uncomprehending.
Ren smiled as he sat down on the bench next to her and ruffled her hair.
"And that's the look I was hoping to get." He said as he leaned back and got comfortable.
"How did you…?"
"Well, there's this funny thing, you can ask for private access for a few hours here, and they'll set this up a certain way, and then you can enjoy nighttime sky viewing to your heart's content. I thought it might be right up your alley when you said you had a special project you wanted to do for this class."
"It is...it's wonderful. Thank you so much...I don't know what to say…" Kyoko nibbled nervously on her bottom lip but Ren shot her another bright smile that made her want to squint and look away again.
"Well, I figured you deserved something special. And I confess, we'll not be seeing each other for a few weeks after tonight. The guys and I have to go away to that special physical training for Mt Oguso and I'm a bit limited in what I'll be able to help you with in the next few weeks. So, I wanted to go that extra mile."
"I appreciate it very much, thank you." she said.
"No, thank you. You didn't have to agree to see me or really, agree to do anything with me at all, but you went ahead and said it was ok, even though I hurt your feelings so badly. So, thank you. I really wanted to show my appreciation for your perseverance."
"You know...I did say that I'd be open and sincere in return if you did what I'd asked. Which you did, but...you haven't yet asked me about how I've been feeling and stuff, don't you want to know? Weren't you upset because I hadn't been communicating?" Kyoko looked at him questioningly.
Ren nervously fiddled with the gravel beneath the bench with his shoes, "Um, well, to be honest, it took all my courage just to say what I did. I can't say I've gathered enough of it up to ask you to do the same."
"How about I tell you anyway?"
He propped his elbows up on his knees and ran a hand through his hair, "Alright. I'm all ears then." He blew out a breath.
Kyoko looked him over carefully, studying him silently for a moment before she spoke up, "Yeah, I was angry, and I was upset. I might have lied about Bo... But all this?! That was so much bigger than that. And you bet your ass you're gonna make up for it." She glared at him lightly from the corner of her eye, and Ren found that he was twisting his pant-seam a little nervously with his fingers. He forced himself to stop. She a took a deep breath, then said,
"But, I was also amazed, and awed. You trusted me enough to explain. Let's be real here. You've gone through some shit." Her bluntness made him wince and he looked away. "But you still trusted me enough to explain it. You said I deserved to know the truth. I did. Little ole me. It might have just been because we knew each other when we were kids, but that you told me what you did makes me even happier to have known you."
Ren felt his breath catch in his throat and tears prick at the corner of his eyes. But Kyoko kept talking, carefully studying the flowers in the garden so she could ignore just how flustered she really was.
"Yeah, it's embarrassing to realize why you laughed all those times I told you about my fairy prince. But you also always made sure to let me know that I didn't need to worry. That my fairy prince had grown up just fine. I don't know if you realize this, but Corn, you, you really are some of the best memories of my childhood. And I am so, so grateful that the paths that we did take, they landed us here. We're sitting next to a river, and I'm chattering away, and you're listening, and I know, we're gonna be just fine." She leaned nearer to him, gently placing a hand on his cheek to tilt his head enough so they could look each other in the eye again. Kyoko smiled and wiped away the tear on his cheek.
"Kuon, you're going to be just fine. And you are so strong, and you are so brave. And you must have been so alone for so long. My offer still stands you know, I want to be your sanctuary."
Ren couldn't keep it together anymore. He slid off the bench, knees hitting the ground, wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her lap. And he sobbed more tears than he'd ever allowed himself before this moment.
He didn't know for how long they stayed that way, but she gently shushed him, combing her fingers through his hair. He wondered vaguely, in a far and distant way, if he was ever going to be 'alright'. But with Kyoko there with him, telling him he could, he found he could believe that maybe one day, he would be.
"There you go, making me believe in hope again." His voice was raspy, and he knew his face must be a wreck when she started dabbing at it lightly with her shirt sleeve when he looked back up at her.
"That's nonsensical you know." She said in that sensible way of hers. Ren let out a small chuckle.
"How so?"
Very seriously, Kyoko took his cheeks in both her hands and stared him down, "The only reason I ever believed that things could turn out better for me, is because of the power of a very special stone...I wonder who might have given that to me.." The sardonic tone of voice made him snicker.
"Alright, fair enough..." He stood and stretched, "I think our tea might have gone cold, will you still want it?"
"Of course! You put in all this effort! It shouldn't go to waste."
He brought the tea mugs over, and they settled back on the bench to enjoy sipping at their tea. He needn't have worried apparently; it was warm enough still to be pleasant. His thoughts were unattached, and drifting.
He noticed odd moments-seconds really, of time, that later would only come to him in brief flashes of memory. The look on her face as Kyoko smiled up at the stars, the warmth of the cup in his hand, the feel of the summer breeze in their hair, their feet tangling together as they sat on the bench, the lights dancing along the water, and the smell of the chrysanthemums in the garden.
"Tsuruga-san?"
"Yeah?"
"I'll call you. Every day we can't see each other, alright?"
Ren swallowed heavily as Kyoko determinedly stared out at the lights in the water.
His voice was husky and nearly a whisper as he responded, "Promise?"
Kyoko ever-so-slowly slid her free hand closer to his on their bench so her pinky finger touched his. "I promise."
Ren briefly thanked God that it was not that well lit of an area or it'd be painfully obvious he was blushing furiously. He intertwined her fingers with his and raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly before letting their hands rest back on the bench.
"So this project thing with these stars…what's that all about?" He asked, teasing.
And Kyoko laughed long, and hard.
…
And back around to the ending of this part of the story, and now onward to the afterword again. Went ahead and tried reformatting the beginning chapters for better story flow, but the last few didn't have an easy way to do that. Thanks again to all the readers that continued to let me know that they've loved this story.
-artsy