AN: Because of the way things are in this fic, I actually got rid of some of the stuff from the manga. I know that some people might like the scenes but it didn't make sense to me to include it with how things were the previous chapter. Don't worry, Kyoko will still be Ren's temporary manager where some understandings will be reached 😉
Act 35: In the Hallway
Kyoko couldn't help but feel tense every time that she finished a show as Bo. Despite her previous behavior when it had come to Shotaro, people really did like her performance. As rewarding as that felt to her, she had messed up and she didn't want to do it again. She now knew how important a job, any job was to a young actress and she couldn't even call herself an actress yet.
She heard the crew praising one another on their hard work and she looked out to them. They all seemed friendly and so proud of their work. She wanted to be an actress that could have that kind of pride too. Maybe a mascot's job seemed demeaning at first but it was just a stepping stone, right?
"Hey," Hikaru Ishibashi said as he patted her on the shoulder, "Good work."
Kyoko looked at the twenty-year-old and bowed deeply. She was glad that she was developing a little bit of a friendship with the hosts, they were her coworkers after all and also belonged to LME. Despite her desire to be friends with Moko-chan, any type of friendship was good. Because of the president, she had been able to attend the training school with Kanae and she felt that that was doing wonders at helping her with her acting skills. It wasn't as if she had any male friends outside of this program.
"Ah, you too," Kyoko bowed.
Hikaru laughed, "It's nothing. Today was pretty hilarious as well, you're quite good at knowing when to act dumb and when to intrude. Such an interesting person."
Kyoko delivered a nervous breath. She should take that as a compliment. "Honestly, I don't really know," she said nervously. "Thank…Thank you?"
"Hey," Hikaru said as he stood in a relaxed position, "Want to join us for dinner? It's almost nine anyway."
"Huh?" Kyoko asked, unaware that Hikaru was attempting to flirt with her. "No, thanks, I have to head back to the agency." Before she could say anything else, the other two hosts complimented her on her work and she switched her attention over to them, "Both of you as well," she smiled. She was definitely feeling at home here within the group, it was nice to have a feeling of home.
As Kyoko took her head off and walked away she found the producer staring at her and she nervously dropped into the lowest bow that she could whilst wearing the costume. This man didn't like her. He had tried to ban her from the TV station but the audience had wanted her as Bo and the producer sometimes had to give his audience what they wanted. What had turned into a plot for revenge had led to Kyoko getting a job as a regular on the show. However, he seemed to hate her. It couldn't be helped, it wasn't as if Kyoko had a time machine.
Bo wasn't an amazing role but it was a role that she could be paid for and it might help her get connections even within the mascot suit. As she changed her clothes, she looked into her shirt and saw the charm bag that the owners of the restaurant where she worked and now lived above gave her. They had told her that it would make her feel safe and encourage her to work hard and do her best. It was a precious item that allowed her to feel that people loved her. She was glad that she had a replacement for Corn. She turned to the cell phone feeling a little guilty. She had kept it because she had felt that she needed it but he hadn't called her. He had promised not to call her. Even if he was a liar, it was good that he was keeping his distance from her.
Kyoko walked along confidently after she had changed her clothes. She could hear people talking in the hallway but she didn't listen to them first of all. She was sure that she would advance quickly in the entertainment world. She would be able to find her own dream and follow her heart. She smiled boldly before she stopped as the chatter seemed to grow stronger. She wasn't sure what they were talking about but as she raised her head, her eyes widened and she saw the subject of conversation.
Ren was here, in the same studio that she was. He most likely had work to do himself but he seemed so much more guarded than when she had seen him before. He was definitely attractive but taking in everything from the jacket that he had chosen to his long and balanced strides to his closed off facial expression, she was thinking that he was more guarded than before. Maybe he had decided to stop lying to people. No, if he was Ren Tsuruga, he was still living a lie.
…..
…..
Ren kept his focus straight ahead as he walked with Yashiro. Yashiro had been able to notice how his body language and facial expression had changed the weeks after Kyoko had moved out. It was as if he were still getting over being attacked by a pet, he was trying to move on but he was nervous about the injury. Yashiro just hoped it wasn't something as serious as a broken heart. Ren had been starting to open up with Kyoko in his life and now he had put those walls up again.
He was still hurting but at least it wasn't affecting his work. Ren seemed to be ignoring all the people talking about him but this wasn't out of the ordinary. Ren however was trying to filter out the world around him and think about what he had chosen over Kyoko. He hadn't been ready to sacrifice his dream of becoming a Hollywood actor and so he had sacrificed his relationship with Kyoko. The rules that he had set for himself were to not disclose his identity. Although he still paid secretly for the acting classes and for Kyoko's cell phone, he wasn't ready to open up to anyone, at least not anymore.
He had just finished a show and he wanted to get to his next location as soon as possible. His heart had shattered once he found Corn but he still kept the stone in his pocket. It had been a sign that she was done with him. She didn't want him to approach her and she wanted to cut him off from her life. He wouldn't burden her anymore. He wanted for her to have a beautiful and happy life even if it wasn't with him.
…..
…..
As much as Kyoko wanted to run up to him and tell him that she had found a job and the people she was living with were taking good care of her, she was held back by her pride. He had lied to her and who knew why he was hiding his true identity? The fact was that he was a stranger who had manipulated her into believing him.
She didn't want let him know that she had bounced back comfortably. She definitely didn't want to let him know that she had lost Corn, she had even gone back to the area where Corn must have landed and searched and searched for it but somebody else must have picked it up and it was gone. That was a sign that their friendship should be over for both of their sakes.
Despite the lies, she wanted him to be happy and having fun. Maybe he was a good person underneath all of it but he was part of the victim protection and he had been targeted by an international gang where he had to never tell his true identity or he would be in danger. That still meant that he didn't trust her but it was for a good reason.
Kyoko started to feel that everyone was looking at her and whispering and this was mainly the women who were glancing at her and chattering and she didn't know why they were doing that. She felt a bit strange and embarrassed with everyone looking at her and she wondered if she had something on her or there had been some rumor that Shotaro had successfully spread.
It was when she could feel a spark that she looked up and she saw Ren staring at her. People were angry with her because of the special attention that she was being shown. She felt badly. People didn't know about their friendship and they definitely didn't know that he had hurt her and she had most likely hurt him. She saw him sigh and wondered if it was a type of painful sigh.
As she saw him and paled, she could see that gentleman's smile appear on his face. This was a false smile that usually meant his anger but it was somehow making all the other women swoon. Ren turned his attention to the place in front of him again and started to walk off. Yashiro felt that there was something wrong with that smile and saw Kyoko looking down at the ground. Had something happened just now that he wasn't aware of?
…
After that strange encounter with Ren, Kyoko made her way to see Sawara-san. She felt awkward. It wasn't as if Ren had said something to her and he certainly hadn't pursued her but his smile had had a kind of distance to it as if he were just trying to be polite to her. She had made it clear that she wanted nothing else to do with him but at that point she had felt like an animal being targeted by a predator.
Maybe she was thinking too much about this, maybe it was her past with Shotaro that had led her to get the wrong idea about him. Sometimes people lied for reasons that were to protect themselves or others and apart from him not wanting to tell her his real name, he hadn't done anything bad to her. He had been her rescuer, his provider, he had eaten flowers to keep up this lie that he had told to her. If he had really wanted to manipulate her, he would have tossed that salad in the trash in front of her on the very first night.
As she made it to the office, she walked up to Sawara-san's desk. "Mogami-san?" he asked her as she dipped into a low bow, "Is there anything that you want at this late hour?" he asked and Kyoko gave a weak smile.
"Erm..actually," she said nervously, "I was hoping to audition for this commercial that's taking place tomorrow. Since I'm still new, would it be okay to audition for it?"
"Huh?" Sawara asked as he rose from the chair, "A commercial audition?" he asked completely shocked," and it's held tomorrow?" he asked and Kyoko nodded. "Do you think that you'll be ready?" he asked her and Kyoko gave him a brave smile.
"I'll do my best," she told him, "It's all that I can do."
Sawara-san nodded slowly and Kyoko bowed her head again.
"I'm really sorry, I already signed up by myself so it was hard to tell you," she said and Sawara-san laughed at this. She really was a fair and honest girl who liked to play by the rules. He wasn't sure what the president would say to this but he felt it was good for her. He would have felt bad were he head of the acting section and she hadn't known about this but he was the head of the talent section and he got different information.
"It doesn't matter," Sawara told her, "You don't need to apologize."
Kyoko kept her head bowed, "I felt that instead of just waiting, my chance for a major debut will increase if I do this," she said and Sawara nodded.
"True," he agreed before coming closer to her so that he could whisper this part of the conversation, "Besides, for someone who wants to hide the fact of being on the main casting in one of the highly-rated variety show, this will be a good opportunity for you." Kyoko bit her lip to keep herself from explaining why she thought the mascot job was demeaning, other people didn't seem to think it was. "It's weight that you don't like to attract attention."
Kyoko stood quietly, drifting off in her thoughts but Sawara-san seemed to be feeling energetic despite Kyoko daydreaming.
"Right, well anyway. Just call it a day and rest up. Go home for today, get some rest, do your best for tomorrow," he encouraged her and Kyoko smiled. She was excited for her first audition, she just really wished that she could share this news with Corn…well, what she really wished was for Corn to be real.
End of Act 35
Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated
Thank you to the reviewers of Act 34
Brennakai, EmmaLasagna, Guest (x2), H-Nala, JeremyVD, Kaname671, KrisXD, paulagato
Author Response
Thank you so much for the support. Kyoko will be getting Corn back but I haven't decided at what point. I could make Kyoko more spastic but I try to go for deep emotional writing, I wonder who could tell that, lol. I'm actually feeling really relieved to not feel a need to update when I have a longer work shift. I work a retail job and sometimes people are unbelievably annoying and I feel zap all my energy.