AN: Hopefully you guys still enjoy this chapter. I didn't have a lot of time this morning because of work so I wrote this in thirty-five minutes 😊 Hope you guys enjoy.

AN2: I wanted to upload this before work but the service was unavailable so bad timing to post, thank you for being patient for this evening.

Act Four – New Looks

Kyoko wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or happy that she had managed to sell her collection of Shotaro goods so quickly. She had definitely thought that it would take more than a day but as soon as she had rented a selling table and put the goods out, people had flocked to her and she had been able to get a pretty good deal.

As she started to take down the table to return it. She looked at the money that she had raised. Maybe it was time to make a new Kyoko. Would Corn be displeased if she cut her hair and dyed the color? Well, Corn had had golden hair and green eyes as a fairy prince so it would be hypercritical of him to make a big deal out of this. She nervously moved from side to side.

Well, she wanted to be able to start paying Corn back for his generosity so she would need to have some money for food, maybe cookware, cleaning supplies. She grinned as she looked at the money. She would put half of it aside so that she could clean and cook for Corn properly and with the other half she would buy a new set of clothes that were on discount and get her hair done. That way Shotaro would never be able to call her a plain boring woman again.

Kyoko nodded. She was determined to get a makeover, develop a new Kyoko and that's what she would do. Hopefully it would be a good surprise for Corn. Corn wasn't one to care about looks, right? He was being so kind to her because he was her childhood friend and he had been the one to say that there shouldn't be any love between the two of them.

She put her fingers through her hair. As much as she wanted to go with the blond like Corn had had, red felt a little better. Well, she'd take the advice of the stylist. Those who had trained in the business they worked in, the professionals, knew what worked best for their paying customers. Now, what was that reasonably priced salon called again?

…

…

"I would say good job but that smile already tells me that you knew you completed the shoot well," Yashiro said as he handed Ren a towel after the R. Mandy shoot. Ren took it, dabbing the sweat off of his face and neck.

"You can still say it," he shrugged and Yashiro nodded.

"Well, in that case, good job today," he told his client before raising an eyebrow, "Is it too early to start asking questions about this Kyoko character?" he asked and Ren turned to him before paling a little. He had already described Kyoko as a live-in maid was there anything else that he needed to disclose to his manager.

"Why are you interested in her?" he asked and Yashiro hummed.

"Things like this usually come out into the open and you were just voted the hottest bachelor by a large number of women. As talented as you are, some of your numbers and pull come from your sex appeal," Yashiro said honestly and Ren blinked in surprise.

"My what?" he asked and Yashiro frowned, his eyes narrowing.

"Don't pretend that you don't realize this, that the number of women who dream about getting closer to you is part of your popularity. You're nice to everyone, Ren, and you don't discriminate between women, as long as someone is serious about their work then you are kind to them, some might mistake it as affectionate," he said and Ren paused before weakly looking away.

"If you're worried about whether I'm going to enter a relationship with Kyoko Mogami you are seriously mistaken. I'm only helping her out because of our history together," he said with his chin raised, his eyes glancing with determination into the distance. "I've already told her not to fall in love with me. If anything, she's more of a childhood friend than anything else."

"Aha," Yashiro replied as he wiggled his eyebrows up and down, a playful smile on his face. "You never said that you had a history together, a friendship during your childhood. This makes this Kyoko woman sound even more appealing. I suppose if we go from the childhood friends angle, the press will be favorable towards you."

Ren looked at him before shaking his head. "Nothing to worry about there. I'm not attracted to her," he lied, "and I can't have people who are too significant to me anyway. She just got out of a bad…I don't know if you would even consider it a relationship. She got kicked out of the apartment that they shared together and so I offered her a room in exchange for her services. It's a simple arrangement really."

"She was living with another man?" Yashiro asked before sighing. "Can you tell me all the details about this?" he asked, "I'm just trying to protect you when the time comes that this situation is exposed. It'll be better for you in the end to disclose this information. How old is she? I suspect in her early twenties, someone you attended classes with."

"Her age isn't important," Ren said and Yashiro looked at him.

"So, she's an older woman, late twenties?" he guessed and Ren stared at him before shaking his head.

"We should head to the next job," he reminded his manager, "Let's just put this situation on hold. I don't want to be late for the shoot. Even if we are just reading lines, Shinkai-san is not one who likes his actors to be late. I mean, we're introducing a singing idol into a historical piece set at a ryokan. This is going to take a lot of work."

Yashiro sighed before agreeing. As interested as he was about Kyoko and especially about the relationship that she shared with Ren, Ren was a professional actor who cared more about his work than anything else. He pulled out a pair of gloves, interested in searching up this Mogami Kyoko. She had to have some sort of social media use that he could see. Maybe if he knew what type of woman she was, he could deal with this situation appropriately.

"Are you sure that you don't have feelings for this woman?" Yashiro asked and Ren nodded.

"Absolutely. No romantic feelings at all, I think of her with more kindness and friendship. Don't worry, there is no intention to start dating her," he told his manager unsure if that would be true at the end of the day or not. Actually, depending on how that salad turned out, he might have to think about finding other housing for her. He didn't think eating flowers every day would work out.

…

…

As Kyoko returned to the apartment that night, she had a queasy feeling in her stomach. She had cut her hair to chin-level and dyed it a chestnut color. She had been really happy with her new look especially since the color and cut suited her face and brought out her eye color but would Corn be upset that the childhood friend he was doing this all for looked different when she didn't have to.

More than that, when she had completed her shift at Daruma-ya, her boss who had always treated her kindly had refused to speak to her or even look at her. As much as she cared about Taisho's feelings, he wasn't the most approachable man. If she got fired from this job after quitting her other two then she would have screwed things up for Corn, she would never be able to repay him.

She put a comb through her hair again. She liked it and hopefully Corn would as well. As she studied her reflection, she heard the card key zip through the door – fortunately Ren had given her an extra one for her to use – and she quickly went to meet him. She frowned. He definitely looked exhausted, he must have had a really long day where he worked professionally at his jobs.

"Welcome home," she grinned as she dropped down into a bow and he blinked at her.

"Hi," he said as he studied her, "I'm home." He looked her over as Kyoko took a step back and started to shiver. He was going to tell her that he didn't like his new look, wasn't he? He was going to kick her out because she had done something stupid. He paused before gesturing to his own neck, "You look different. It's cute," he commented and Kyoko blushed, her entire face turning red.

"Umm," she shifted nervously, "Does that mean that you like it?" she asked and he nodded. Thank god that he wasn't going to make any insensitive comments, well then again Corn wasn't like Shotaro. "I prepared the salad. I had to make a dressing that complimented the flowers and I tried it when I was making it, it tastes really delicious," she grinned.

Ren raised an eyebrow, "Heh," he laughed softly, "Delicious? Are you sure?"

"I think so," Kyoko said before dashing off to the kitchen and returned with a bowl full of vegetables with the flower petals on top. She showed it to him before he followed her to where the table was. "I managed to experiment with a few things so I think you'll enjoy it. I'm not sure how much it'll be like those salads at the fairy kingdom but I'm hoping that you like it."

Ren paused, he would taste the salad before passing judgement on it, anything other than that might hurt her feelings and she looked so excited by what she had accomplished that day. He sat down as she went to the kitchen to get a bowl for herself. At least she had enough confidence in her cooking to eat with him. He hadn't eaten at home with someone for years, it actually felt really nice to not be alone.

Nervously, he picked up his chopsticks and she leaned forward to watch him. He picked up some lettuce and carrots whilst also managing to pluck a couple of petals up and with measured breaths he put it in his mouth. His eyes widened. Even someone who didn't like food and eating as much as he did had to admit that the salad was delicious. He took another bite before smiling at her, making her feel a little faint as he did so.

"It's delicious," he told her with the smile brightening the room and Kyoko felt as if he was sparkling. She definitely was dazed by how gorgeous he was even without his blond hair and green eyes. "Thank you, Kyoko-chan, for making me this dish. It definitely reminds me of the fairy kingdom."

Kyoko grinned as she took another bite for herself. This accomplishment meant a lot to her. Corn had already done so much for her and she was just starting to repay him for his generosity. She watched as he gazed at her and she wished that she could see the true him. Another part of her was excited that she was with Ren but she didn't want to be a foolish woman swooning over a celebrity, she had seen enough women have that reaction with Shotaro.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her and Kyoko blinked surprised, could he read her thoughts?

"I just…I wish I could see you for real, Corn" she said and he looked at her confused. "The hair, the eyes. Do you feel sad that you had to give them up when you became human?" she asked and Ren looked at her.

"Do you want to know a secret?" he asked and Kyoko leaned forwards. She watched him as he stood and cleaned his hands with water from the sink. He slowly and carefully pulled something out of his pocket and moved his hand towards his eyes.

Kyoko blinked as she saw the brown change to the emerald color. No. She had promised herself not to fall in love with him no matter how absolutely gorgeous he still was.

End of Act Four

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Act Three

Ashenvale, H-Nala, Julez, Kaname671, kotoko-98, MWEH, PaulaGaTo, Umiron

Author Response

Well there will be a lot of funny reveals. There's going to be a lot of resistance on both sides not to fall in love with one another, failed though 😊 Thank you so much for everyone's support on this story.