Princess Kyouko laughed with the sun shining down on her long silky tresses. Her animal friends were helping her craft a tiara out of flowers. From the shadow's prince Kuon watched her wishing he had the courage to talk to her. She was gorgeous and her laugh was hypnotic. He was already engaged to lady Kana however and there was nothing either of them could do to change that. So, prince Kuon contented himself just watching her frolic with her animal friends. She would never even know his name or how much he loved her.
As he was lamenting his pitiful predicament another approached the princess. With a sneer the knight snatched the flowers from her hands and opened his mouth to let out an annoying shrill sound.
Kuon woke up to darkness annoyed that Fuwa had appeared to ruin what should have been a good solid dream where he got to stare at Kyouko for hours.
"Princess your phone." He said searching for the source of the annoying ringing. Kyouko mumbled something with her face smushed against his chest but didn't wake up. Her entire body was snuggled on top of him in deep slumber.
Having long arms was a blessing when he could barely move and needed to reach the nightstand where she had left her phone. Not wanting to be blinded by the light he hit the off button to shut it up and returned his arm to holding her. Seconds later it was ringing again. Gritting his teeth Kuon grabbed the phone and turned the screen to see that it was Fuwa. He declined the call again. It was ringing again before he could set it down.
"What!" He answered rudely but received no reply.
In the morning he would remember why it was bad to for him to answer her phone. In the morning he would remember why Fuwa was the one person who could never know about them. It was not morning however and he was too irritated to think rationally.
"Call her again and I'll slam your face through a wall." He threatened.
"Who are you threatening?" A drowsy Kyouko asked as Kuon hung up her phone.
"No one princess. Go back to sleep." Kuon said petting her hair.
Already half asleep again Kyouko smiled and snuggled closer against his chest.
It had to have been some sort of mistake. Shou figured at first that he had dialed the wrong number. After checking the number multiple times and asking Shoko if she was certain it was Kyouko's number he theorized that she had left her phone in the emptied headed actor's room. Then he racked his brain for reasons why she would be in the man's room. There was some misunderstanding, or it was a joke that was going over his head. There was no way that Kyouko would actually be sleeping with Tsuruga Ren.
Shou couldn't ask her about it. Normally he would march up to the two of them and demand answers but the moment he stepped on set and saw her his throat tightened. She was innocently giggling with Chiori-san and another friend she had made on set. Tsuruga was at a photoshoot until later that evening and couldn't stop Shou from cornering her to ask about the call. She looked so happy but how could that be when Tsuruga had a girlfriend. His Kyouko would never be content being the other woman. Shou knew that if she was sleeping with Tsuruga there was no way she wasn't in love. How good of an actress had she become that she could hide the pain of being the mistress? Surely what Murasame had theorized couldn't be true, could it?
"Kyouko-chan we need you in wardrobe." One of the costumers said interrupting Kyouko's conversation with Chiori.
"Coming." Kyouko said bowing as an apology to the other actress.
Shou followed her down a long hall and watched her disappear into a wardrobe room. The girl was too naïve, he thought. She trusted too easily and was probably fooled by both Kana and Tsuruga. They had some kind of sick game they played and put her in the middle. His face formed a scowl. The fool probably had some sort of mommy and daddy complex and was easy prey. All they had to do was say they loved her and being deprived of affection for so long she had fallen into their trap.
"What an idiot." He said annoyed with her for being a stupid girl with nothing but love on her brain.
In the dressing room Kyouko giggled as one of the women measured her waist. They had misplaced the file with her measurements, but she was fine with being remeasured.
"That's a cute dress Kyouko-chan, is it new." One seamstress asked about the pink sweaterdress she wore.
Kyouko blushed happily as she recalled Kuon dragging her around in disguise begging her to let him buy one thing. It wasn't until she spotted a thrift store that she had agreed to let him pay for one thing and she was glad she had. The dress still had its tags on, and it had decently sized pockets. She had paired it with boots Kana had gotten her and a bracelet from Kanae. Thinking about her outfit made her feel loved.
"Thank you, it is new." She said then the seamstress and her spent the next ten minutes gushing over their favorite places to thrift shop.
Upon exiting the room Kyouko bumped into an annoyingly familiar chest.
"Nice dress." Shou said and she grit her teeth bracing for the insult.
"Thank you." She said curtly after an awkward pause.
"Tsuruga buy it for you? Are you his doll now?" He asked coldly as his fingers came up to pinch the fabric of her sleeve. "Or maybe he bought you for Kana-san to dress up."
Clenching and unclenching her jaw she shoved his hand off.
"Don't touch me." she said. "If you're going to be a jerk today than don't speak to me."
A look of hurt flashed through his eyes baffling her. He was the one who was trying to pick a fight.
"He has a girlfriend, Kyouko." He said and he sounded as if the words pained him to say.
"Ok?" Kyouko said trying to sidestep him. "I need to go get changed for our first scene." She held up her costume to emphasize her point.
Shou grabbed her arm pulling her to him. "I have no idea what you're thinking but this is not the way to get to the top. I don't always say it, but you are talented. Much too talented to be whoring yourself out to some guy who will most likely leave you once he's bored.
"You need to remove your hand from me, Fuwa." Kyouko seethed letting her dark aura seep out. "I have no idea what you're talking about, but you have some nerve calling me a whore."
"What else should I call someone who has sex for a cheap thrift store dress? At least Kana-san got paid big bucks before becoming a slut for Tsuruga. I bet that was barely 400 yen." Shou seethed tightening his grip on her arm.
"What are you talking about?" Kyouko asked feeling tears well up in her eyes but she wasn't sure why. "First of all, I love that this dress was under 400 yen and it still had its tags and it has pockets. Second Kana-san is not a slut! Third and possibly most importantly I have never had sex with Tsuruga-san, so I would appreciate it if you would stop implying that I use my body to get ahead in my career. Tsuruga-san isn't that kind of person to begin with." She said realizing that she was getting off track but Shou had a way of making her say the most in order to defend herself.
"You're a virgin still?" Shou asked loosening his hold on her. She made a disgusted face at him wondering why that was the one thing he heard.
"That is none of your business." She said wrenching her arm away.
"Of course, you are." Shou continued as though he hadn't heard her. "Because you know as soon as you give it up to him, he'll leave you." With smug satisfaction he reached out to touch her hair causing her disgusted expression to deepen. "Well, if you want, I could warm your bed for you." Even as he said it, he remembered the sound of a groggy male voice answering her phone. There was no mistaking that the voice had belonged to Tsuruga. Was she lying to protect her lover or was something else going on? His hand clenched at the thought of her in bed with Ren and grabbed her hair. If they weren't having sex but were sleeping together that was somehow worse to Shou.
"Ow let go." Kyouko said shoving at his hand. "I have no idea what you're going on about, but could you not harass me with your crass accusations. Stop touching me too. I never gave you permission to get so close."
"I don't need permission to touch what's mine." Shou said growing more annoyed with her. "I never gave you permission to warm Tsuruga's bed or to fall in love with him."
Kyouko stopped shoving at his hand to stare at him dumbfounded. He was jumping to conclusions way too quickly. No matter how truthful his words were, she couldn't see where he was pulling his accusations from. Why was he suddenly so sure that she and Ren were together?
"If Tsuruga did touch you it would only be because you are a virgin. Some men are like that." He said with the pretense of concern. "They do whatever it takes to pop your cherry then they leave you. I mean really, why else would he pay any attention to you when he has an experienced lover like Kana?"
"Tsuruga-san is nothing like you, he sees Kana-san as more just a warm body Shoutaro. She also happens to be a wonderful cook and a sweet person. Unlike you Tsuruga-san has better criteria for what to look for in a partner than big boobs and sex." Kyouko said wishing she could slap Shou's smug look off his face.
"That's because you haven't had sex yet." Shou said. "He'll reveal his true colors if you ever do spread your legs for him. I promise that is the only reason a guy who can have anyone he wants would keep someone like you around. Ugly girls give great head too, but we've already seen that scene."
"Why are you so disgusting? Yayoi-san would be ashamed, and your father would probably whip you for talking like that to me." Kyouko said and she tried again to shove his hand away, but he just gripped her hair tighter. "That hurts!" she growled cursing the tears that sprung to her eyes at the pain.
"Like I care." Shou's voice nearly cracked as images of her in that pretty boy actor's arms flooded his mind. Hand still in her hair he pulled her to him. "I'll bet that sick freak has been playing with you for years. How old were you when you joined LME? Oh yeah sixteen. Imagine what the media will think when I tell them."
"They'll think it sounds like a filthy lie. Now let go!" she demanded and the heel of her palm connected with his nose.
"Ouch! God damn it Kyouko!" Shou wailed releasing her hair to check his nose.
"Hmph. Serves you right." Kyouko said turning on her heel to go to her waiting room.
A hand seized her wrist and dragged her backwards. Thinking fast she swept her foot out tripping him. She landed hard on her elbow and hit her head to avoid falling on top of him.
Grabbing his hand and slapping it into his chest to get it off of her she shouted, "Could you pretend to be nice, or better yet pretend that I don't exist. You used to be good at that." There was a look of sadness in his eyes that confused her.
"I'm sorry." He said but neither of them knew what he was apologizing for. Hurting her now or neglecting her throughout their life together.
"You're being weird." She said after an uncomfortable pause. "Ow." She rubbed her head checking to see if he had pulled any hair out.
"I'm sorry." He said sincerely and reached out to tenderly touch a bruise forming on her arm.
"Don't touch me." She barked recoiling from him.
"Just tell me you're not so naïve to believe that Tsuruga is dating the porn star for her personality." Shou said and the concern in his voice sounded genuine. "You're not that stupid."
"Tsuruga-san." Kyouko corrected as though speaking to a child. "The least you can do is pretend to respect your betters while in public."
He rolled his eyes and sneered, "You really are pathetically in love with him, aren't you? He's fucking a porn star and using you for whatever it is you do, and yet he's my better."
"He doesn't use me for anything and whatever he and Kana-san do in private is their business not yours." She said standing up and wiping off her dress. "Whatever I choose to do or don't do is also none of your business. I don't owe you anything Shou." Her voice softened as she gazed down at his remorseful expression. She turned to walk away wanting to be as far from him as possible.
"Kyouko, wait." He said jogging up behind her.
With a sigh she hung her head asking, "What do I have to do to make you shut up and leave me alone?"
"I think you broke my nose." Shou replied annoyed by her irritated voice.
"Good." She stated simply and kept walking.
"Hey!" he shouted grabbing her arm again but letting go quickly when she turned to him hand poised to hit him again. "Wait!" He begged holding his hands up in surrender. After a silent pause he peaked one eye open to see her waiting. "I'm sorry ok." He said lowing his hands.
"Fine." Kyouko said with a shrug. "Then don't touch me again. I will break your nose next time."
"Fair enough." Shou said then with a sudden spark of remembrance he reached into his pocket. "Here." He said smacking her on the head with a tiny flat box wrapped in a satiny red and gold wrapping paper. "Happy whatever."
Kyouko took the package confused as to what it could be. Uncharacteristically awkward Shou rubbed the back of his head. For a moment while she just stared at the box as if something were going to jump out and bite her.
"It's for your birthday." Shou explained.
"Thank you." She said but it sounded like a question. Were they done fighting? She had been hoping she would get to slap him.
"Whatever." Shou said.
He had never actually given her anything for her birthday. Their entire childhood he had complained if Yayoi asked him to help pick out a Christmas present for her. It must have been due to Yayoi-san's insistence, or she was the one who had bought it. That was the only logical explanation Kyouko could think of.
"Thank you." She tried to say again but her tone still made it sound like, what the hell?
They sated at each other for a minute. Shou was hopeful that he had earned some brownie points with her while Kyouko was confused and suspicious.
"Are you done now? No more following me?" she asked taking a step backwards.
His brows knit together but he nodded. Wasn't she going to open his present?
"See you on set." Kyouko said before running off as fast as she could. She locked herself in her waiting room unwilling to give him any more chances to harass her.
Hanging up her clothes and tossing the gift onto the table, she took out her phone and shot Kuon a text. I have a headache. She set her phone down and began to change not expecting him to be able to text back right away. As she was stepping out of her dress however her phone pinged.
Aw my poor princess. I wish I could kiss it better right now. She beamed at her phone and sat down hitting the facetime unthinkingly button.
"Hey, Princess." Kuon answered then looked at her bra straps. "What are you wearing?"
"Oh um," she looked down at herself and her cheeks flushed. "I was changing sorry."
"Don't be sorry. I'm alone tilt the phone a little." He suggested jokingly.
"No, you perv." Kyouko said with a pout. Then hoping he would be on his way soon she asked. "Are you finished with the photoshoot?"
He shook his head saying, "No, my love I'm just on a little snack break. Yukihito has them worked into all my contracts now thanks to my darling wife."
"Well, it is important for you to eat." She said with a sheepish smile. Grinning at her he held up the empty container she had filled with flower shaped vegetables for him. "You ate it all?"
"Yes, I always do as my dear wife says." He said enjoying the way she squirmed whenever he called her wife.
"Alright than I guess I should give my husband a reward." She said and it was his turn to blush happily. "Here." Slowly she raised the phone higher and panned down her body showing off her black and pink checkered undergarments.
Kuon bit his lip and hummed in approval but something caught his eye. She brought the phone back up to her face bright red and too shy to notice the darkness in his eyes.
"Kyouko what happened to your arm?" he asked pointing at her bicep.
Startled she looked at her arm to see that it was red, and a bruise was forming. Tears stung Kuon's eyes at the sight. To him it looked much worse than it was, and he jumped to the only conclusion that made sense to him.
"Kyouko did I…?"
"No," she cut him off and quickly got up to grab her outfit. She pulled it on grateful that it covered her arms. It was after all an outfit selected to cover Sayuri's many marks. Seeing that he didn't believe her she said more firmly. "It wasn't you."
Narrowing his eyes, he asked. "Then who was it?" Someone had hurt her, and he hadn't protected her. "When did this happen?"
Knowing that the truth would set him off she took a step back and shrugged answering, "It was an accident."
"Kyouko?" Kuon started eyes zeroing in on her face for clues as to who she was defending.
She had a history of covering for people. When he had found out what Chiori had done before they became friends, he'd been livid and then she had let it slip about what Kimiko had done. That had put a strain on their relationship in the form of Kuon being too overbearing and protective. He never wanted to let her out of his sight and had demanded that Yashiro be with her every second he couldn't be.
"I tripped, ok?" she tried to lie again but it only served to increase his ire. She could feel his dark aura through the phone. "I stumbled and one of the crew members tried to catch me but they gripped my arm too hard. It was my fault for letting my guard down." Kyouko said not realizing that to Kuon she sounded increasingly like Sayuri covering for Satoshi. She froze as the demon lord stared through the phone at her.
"We don't lie to each other." Kuon said.
Before Kyouko could say anything, a knock sounded at her door. A crew member asked her to come to set quickly as Chiori and Murasame would be done shooting their scene soon.
"I have to go." She said bowing her head and looking at him through her lashes.
"Goodbye." Kuon said venom dripping from his voice. She flinched ashamed for lying to him but then he softened his tone and said, "I love you."
"I love you too." She said daring to lift her head. He hung up mind filled with images of the bruise forming on her arm.
Chiori was exiting lounging in Kyouko's chair reading through her script. Kyouko admired her dedication to as she knew it took Chiori longer to memorize the lines. She walked over to her friend feigning a smile.
"Kyouko-chan how can you wear an outfit like that and still look so pretty?" Chiori complimented with a pout. She had an aversion to Kyouko's costumes which had been styled to give her the appearance of someone slightly older and extremely conservative to hide her bruises.
"What do you mean? I kind of like this outfit." Kyouko said tugging self consciously on the grey sleeves of her blazer. She had told production that there was no way anyone would be fooled into thinking she was in her mid-twenties. They thought she had been complaining about being made to look older and assured her that she would still appear youthful and beautiful.
Chiori shook her head and said, "I was trying to tell you that you look nice. I forgot that compliments go over your head sometimes. Poor Tsuruga-san." Chiori had seen it multiple times where he would complement Kyouko and she would take it as a joke or worse yet a scolding.
"In any case, are you ready for our outdoor scenes?" Chiori asked with a little shiver. "It's already so cold out I wonder what they're thinking having us film outside now. With no coats even."
"It's supposed to be autumn in Oh!Darling's timeline." Kyouko said unbothered by the prospect of being a little cold. "Oh, this is for you." she said presenting Chiori with a shimmery green envelope with her name embossed on it. "Maria-chan and I finished half the invites for our party, this is yours and the other is for Taichirou-san." She said and Chiori saw that there was a red envelope under the green one.
"Thank you." She said blushing as she took the invites. "We would have come anyway you know. Since you invited us verbally. You and Maria-chan are so cute to personally write out invites to everyone and these envelopes look so expensive. Were they all custom made with everyone's name like this or did you do it yourself?"
Sheepishly Kyouko answered, "I didn't have time to do each envelope myself. Tsuruga-san found out that I was trying to schedule time for it and said he would find a place where they could make them cheaply. He never even let me see the purchase price." She pouted at the memory. The man loved finding any excuse to spend money on her. "The actual invites inside and our thank you notes are all handwritten for each person though."
"You wrote me a letter?" Chiori asked excited to read why her friend was thankful for her.
"It's just a little note to say thank you for being my friend." Kyouko said looking down and twiddling her fingers.
"You're so sweet." Chiori said going to hug her.
Director Anna passed by them saying, "Lets get to the outdoor set."
"Right." Both girls said at once and followed him to where production had set up for them to film an outdoor lunch together. It was a flashback scene set right after Satoshi and Sayuri had gotten married. Right around that time was when Kenji started to reveal he had a crush on Sayuri and Airi started keeping tabs on the relationship between Sayuri and Kenji to report back to Satoshi.
Kyouko found it sad that though Sayuri and Airi were childhood friends Sayuri couldn't turn to Airi when Satoshi was abusive. If she had married anyone else than Sayuri could have confided ino her best friend but Airi had no reason to believe her older brother was abusive. Sayuri had one childhood friend who only wanted to have sex with her and another who would never take her side over Satoshi's. It was no wonder she kept quiet about the abuse.
"Kenji-san was looking for you at work today." Airi said.
Sayuri gave her an innocent smile and said, "He's been following me around and acting strange lately. I honestly don't know what's gotten into him." Sayuri said hoping that Airi wouldn't run back to Satoshi and tell him. She had learned on their honeymoon that he was a jealous lover. On the beach when other guys paid her attention he tended to overreact and pick fights. The last thing she needed was Satoshi showing up at work and attacking Kenji.
Kyouko touched her arm wondering why she had lied to Kuon. He would believe her over anyone, and it wasn't as if Kuon liked Shou to begin with. She was worried though that Kuon would overreact and hurt Shoutaro. Why should she care if he got hurt though? She had nearly broken his nose earlier but Kuon really might kill him. That would cause a ruckus and interrupt shooting though.
"I know his behavior has been so weird hasn't it? I mean he's always been kind of obsessed with Satoshinii-san but it's getting a bit ridiculous. I mean getting a crush on you after all these years is going too far." Airi said and Kyouko glanced at Shou standing off to the side waiting for his cue to interrupt their conversation.
"He has always been obsessed hasn't he." It was supposed to be a question but Kyouko said it as a statement about Shoutaro. It must have been fine however since Anna didn't call cut and Chiori continued with the scene.
In her mind Shou's behavior became clear. Shoutaro had always been obsessed with Tsuruga Ren. Couple that with the selfish attitude he had always had when it came to her and it all made sense. That must be why he was acting strange. It wasn't so much that he cared if she was a virgin or not but that he didn't want Ren sleeping with her. 'You're my maid not his.' She could practically hear him saying. It must have also irked him that Kana was so beautiful and topped all the lists, but she was yet again something Tsuruga had that he couldn't.
"He's being an ass because he wants everything that he thinks belongs to Satoshinii-san." Airi said and Kyouko nodded.
"As if I' property or something." Sayuri said and Airi nodded both women offended.
Kenji walked onto the scene then and Airi turned on him with a sneer. They argued for a bit before Kenji apologized and Sayuri forgave him. But the forgiveness had come too easily in Airi's opinion. The scene ended with Airi looking suspiciously at Sayuri and Kenji.
"Cut!" Director Anna called and Kyouko jumped up from her seat beside Shou. She rushed over to watch the scene back with Anna as Shou seemed about to ask her something.
"Don't you have anyone else you can harass?" Chiori asked Shou who curled his lip up at her and walked away.
Later that night, Kuon stared at her arm saying nothing. He hadn't spoken to her past a polite 'hello' when he came to set. Now she was sitting silently beside him in the backseat as Yashiro drove them home. He was mad and she didn't know what to say to ease his anger.
"I can't wait to go to your party Kyouko-chan." Yashiro enthused hoping to clear the dark atmosphere around them. "It'll be fun, and I really loved the letter you wrote for me. I'm grateful for the opportunity to look after you and watch you grow."
"Oh, yes, thank you Yashiro-san." Kyouko stumbled on her words glancing at Kuon's stony expression.
With a sigh she sat back in her seat and their manager went silent. Nothing was going to break his silence. Well unless she wanted to risk making him angrier but then he might yell at her and she would be punished. She shivered at the thought recalling the last time she had made him mad. She smoothed her hair down determined to refuse to wear the cat ears again.
"Thank you, Yashiro-san." She said once they parked in the garage beneath Kuon's building.
"I'll pick you up at eight in the morning Kyouko-chan. Ren," he called to his still brooding charge.
"I'll be on set when I'm done with my first job. You stay with Kyouko." Kuon said sternly. "And I mean stay with her. The entire time."
"Ren." Yashiro tried to scold him but Kuon interrupted.
"Goodnight Yukihito." Kuon said before walking away rudely.
"Goodnight Yashiro-san." Kyouko said with a bow. "Corn!" She was getting a little angry at him now. What gave him the right to be so rude to Yashiro who hadn't done anything? She stomped after him saying his name repeatedly as they rode the elevator and walked down the hall to their apartment.
"Kuon!" She finally shouted once they were safely inside.
He looked her in the eyes and held his hand out for hers. Confused but happy for the response she placed her hand in his. She regretted it instantly when he yanked her sleeve up and held her bruised arm up in the late. The hours had darkened the mark and Kuon tried to line his fingers up with it.
"It wasn't you." she said thinking he must be beating himself up for hurting her.
"I see that. Now my suspicious are confirmed and all that's left if for you to tell me the truth." He said calmly but Kyouko could feel the murderous intent vibrating under his skin. If she told him the truth no one would be able to save Shou from her demon lord.
"I told you I fell." She said dismissively. Kuon let go of her arm and turned away from her. "Kuon?"
"We don't lie to each other." He said and she pressed her lips together as he disappeared into his home gym.
"Stupid Shoutaro." She grumbled yanking her shoes off and stomping up to the door Kuon had gone through. "Why couldn't you be obsessed with Kijima-san or someone?"
Tentatively she turned the knob only to find that it was locked. She stepped back a little shocked that he would lock her out. Tears sprung to her eyes and it made her angry. There was no way she was going to cry over a guy. She raised her hand to knock on the door but stopped to wipe at her wet cheeks.
"Corn." She cried softly not really wanting him to hear.
She scrubbed violently at her face and walked away from the door. He had never done that before, but it had been a long time since she had lied to him about anything. Once all their big secrets had come out, they had promised to always tell each other everything. They didn't lie and they didn't keep secrets.
She went to the kitchen to start dinner cursing Shoutaro for returning from his tour.
