AN: I'm not feeling quite right but I hope that you enjoy this. Health problems are like one-third better than last time.

Act Twenty-Five – The Lie but Not The Truth

"Mogami-san," Ren said as he saw Kyoko getting up slowly. His heart started to quicken in his chest and he put her arm around his waist so that he could help her walk. He led her over to a booth at the hotel's bar and ordered an iced tea for her as she sat across from him with an innocent expression on her face. Ren looked down and took steady breaths.

"Now that we're here, Mogami-san," he said as Kyoko just watched him. "I truly have to apologize to you. I didn't mean to hurt you at all, that was never an intention of mine but it's time to be honest and I think that I have to tell you the truth. Please believe that I never intended to hurt you."

"What is it, Tsuruga-san?" she asked, "Please don't talk about your sec-"

"The fairy kingdom, to my knowledge, isn't a real place. Fairies don't exist or at least I don't believe that they exist," he said as Kyoko looked at him in shock. "I am still the young boy that you played with when you were six and I am still the person that you called Corn but I lied to you at that time and felt it was easier to help you now by letting you believe."

"How could you do this?" Kyoko asked with tears rolling down her cheeks. The waiter put a glass of ice tea in front of her and a glass of red wine in front of Ren. Ren sighed and Kyoko looked at the glass. "Then who are you?" she asked and Ren looked at her nervously.

"I can't tell you here," he whispered, "It's a secret. I can't risk exposing my identity."

"Then you're a con man?" Kyoko asked firmly, she glared at him and stood up. "Tell me who you are right now. I know that Tsuruga Ren is a lie. If you're not a fairy prince then tell me who you are right now!" she demanded and Ren opened his mouth before closing, he repeated this action a few times.

"I can't divulge that information, especially in a setting this public," he told her and Kyoko threw the iced tea in his face.

"I'm going to the media," she said before storming away and Ren watched her go. What had just happened?

…

…

Ren blinked up from the drink in his hand. He had ordered a scotch on the rocks to get his mind off of that day and he was now staring into it as if it were a cauldron designed to tell him his future. He took a deep breath in before looking up to see Yashiro standing by his side. "Ren, do you also want to go over and take a look to see how Kyoko-chan's photo shooting is going?" he asked and Ren sighed.

Of course he wanted to see what that looked like but he didn't know what to say to her. He wanted to be honest but it was hard to be honest when you couldn't honestly replace the lies with the truth. It would go from one lie being present to nothing. He wasn't ready to talk about why he was Ren if he wasn't a fairy and that was selfish of him but he had to figure out how much to give away, how much he could trust her with.

"Why should I go take a look?" Ren asked though he knew that Yashiro would know that he wanted to go and that he would want to see Kyoko happy. It was just something that came with being in love with somebody else. Ren didn't want to admit this love. He didn't want to hurt her.

"Nothing," Yashiro said slowly, "I heard that she is having a rather formal photo shooting. Moreover the hotel's photo studio has been asked to take the photos too," he said and Ren looked up at him. He wanted to tell Kyoko that she was beautiful and then lead it into an apology for the lies that he kept telling her. Luck didn't appear to be on his side though.

Then there was the feeling of complete rejection that scared him. "I'm not interested," he said as he took another sip of the drink. He had to distance himself from her. If he told her the truth and she called him an asshole then he didn't need to tell her his proper identity. What was she going to say about him that would hurt him? If she didn't know his real name then she had no power over him. It was heartless but sometimes you had to be a bit heartless to protect oneself.

"I, however do think that you care a lot when it comes to Kyoko-chan," Yashiro stated, "Like when you acted opposite her previously. You got serious that time, right?" Ren knew that Yashiro understood his feelings were more than friendship. They had to be for a girl like that. But love was forbidden in this life, holding important people was forbidden in this life.

Ren sighed, "This has nothing to do with the acting test. I admire her perseverance," he commented knowing that it was this same perseverance that he had to poke holes in. Well, he had to destroy her loyalty as well. He looked up at Yashiro who was judging him with his gaze. They both knew that there was love there but it was difficult to accept it. Yashiro didn't know why though.

As soon as Ren found that he could no longer go back to his thoughts, he heard people whispering about him. He kept hearing them gossiping about how he was a famous celebrity that they never thought would be here and that they wanted to say hello to him but were afraid to. Sometimes it really did bother him that he was famous despite his family legacy, a legacy that Kyoko shouldn't and couldn't know about.

He looked down at the now empty glass as he tried to focus on the fact that right now he and Kyoko were living together and she didn't despise him. When she found out the truth and that he wouldn't tell her the actual facts she would hate him. He would be made her number one enemy and he hadn't meant for this to happen.

He sighed, he'd been discovered. He was hoping that he could hide in the shadows and that nobody would see him but he had miscalculated and now he was exposed to the public. He paused as he listened to the girls again and tried to decide whether to go and see Kyoko or not. He wanted to spend as much time with her that he could before he owed her the truth about what he had been hiding from her.

…

…

Kyoko smiled so happily as she sat in her costume after the photo shoot. She had never really been treated like a rich and elegant lady before and now she felt that she could have one day of feeling special and beautiful. Maybe if she got even more famous, days like these wouldn't be so rare. Right now though, this was one day that she would treasure within her heart for quite some time. Her nerves were just coming to a calm stability and she smiled happily.

"So…so fun," she announced, "I'm nervous even now."

Kyoko kept her eyes closed as she imagined herself as a concubine of the French emperor who was sitting for a self-portrait. That was the level of care and professionalism that she had felt whilst she had been there. She wanted to make the director see her gratitude for what she had gone through. It didn't matter about her foot, she felt absolutely beautiful.

Seiji laughed weakly, "That's great," he told her and Kyoko continued to beam. "As long as you like it."

"Thank you, Director!" Kyoko said with such an innocent happiness in her face. It was as if times like these weren't something that she had the right to expect. "I was thinking that I got to dress up so beautifully and I might not get to do that again. Celebrate my first make-up experience. And I've kept wanting to leave a trace of this beautiful dream."

She clasped her hands together, her cheeks red with her blushing. She had never had an opportunity to have this kind of attention on her and the way that they had arranged it showed compassion and it showed that maybe she could be given this kind of love and affection. She continued to gaze at Seiji who now had his eyes closed, a bead of sweat descending the side of his neck.

"In the end, you actually suggested taking a picture to keep as a memory. Director Shinkai, you're such a nice person! I'm so fortunate!" she said as she felt like a princess, her heart beating in her chest with such joy. Besides, she was glad that Ren was able to see her looking like this. The women in the fairy kingdom must all be more beautiful than the best fashion models, Corn had been able to see that she could be turned into someone beautiful and she didn't feel like she was letting him down by being his friend.

"Erm, well, Kyoko-chan," Seiji said as he came closer to her and Kyoko stared at him confused, blinking at him. "Erm, with regards to the matter of the acting role this time, I really feel it's a pity."

Kyoko looked into Seiji's eyes, it was nice to be acknowledged for her work but she didn't want him to feel so bad for her. It was going to be like climbing up a mountain with only her bare hands if she, an unknown, wanted to snatch away the role. She wasn't delusional enough to think that fairy tales really were real. She tried to smile at the director, "Oh. It's nothing."

"Although it was decided that Ruriko-chan plays as the lead role but I don't feel, you're inferior compared to Ruriko-chan." Seiji didn't realize that by saying this, he had woken up one of Kyoko's grudges and the look on her face which had been so blissful at one point was now going into the area of looking rather pissed off. He continued to speak, "Compared to her you're," he turned to look at her and saw the way she was staring at him. Did she understand what had gone on? What kind of recovery attempts could he now do?

"Director," Kyoko said as she turned to look off in the distance and the look on her face wasn't of anger any longer but of determination. "I…truth be told, I feel very glad that I can lose to Ruriko-chan," she said and Seiji opened his mouth in shock.

Seiji glanced at her, he was bracing himself to hear something very mature that you don't hear every day. Kyoko was a rather unique person and he wanted her to try to be an actress because he wanted to see much more of her work. "Why?" he asked and Kyoko looked into the distance as if witnessing a sunset.

"Because I, even if I had continued, I would only hate more the me who walked into the trap set up by Tsuruga-san," she said and then thought about how Corn had used his magic to create that bond between them. She didn't want to be misled by anyone and she had to learn how to stand up for herself and create a new world where she could be happy to have a friend but she didn't put him in the same position as she had put Sho. That wouldn't be fair to him.

"I did actually perform accordingly to what the script had asked for, but…" Kyoko hesitated, she didn't want to admit it but the truth was already out, "that was due to Tsuruga-san's acting skills. An expression that came about because of real fright."

The director sighed and smiled knowingly. "Not only you," he told her and Kyoko took interest in this, "to the people who like him, that guy will make the other party truly like him. To the people who are afraid of him, he will make the other party fear him upon seeing him. Therefore, people who have acted opposite Ren, tend to react according to their true personality."

Kyoko looked forward as her head kept trying to tell her that she should stop Corn from doing that. That was one way that he would get exposed and he was using his super powers to do something that wasn't appropriate, taking advantage of other actors. It could be felt like coercion and she didn't want to believe Corn possible of coercion.

Kyoko looked up and was shocked as she saw Ren standing there staring at her whilst his manager also stood there. She tilted her head to the side and smiled. Maybe he just needed to learn more about what being a gentleman meant but she was very glad to see him. She watched as the director waved him over and laughed. The world making sure they met again was better than any makeup.

End of Act 25

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you reviewers of Act 24

H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, misherukuro, MWEH, Paulagato

Author Response:

I'm feeling a little better, thanks. I still have a way to go but I'm glad that I'm at least feeling well enough to have written three chapters of different fics today 😊 I think that there are going to be some hard feelings for these two. We all know they will become a couple but that's not going to happen for a while so please don't worry and use patience 😉