AN: Haha, I misjudged guys. Well it seems like manager!Kyoko will be next chapter 😊

Act 45 – Spiders and Sneezes

Ren heard a loud sneeze before him and his attention spiked, he quickly turned around and took a few steps towards Yashiro. His face showed his concern and his long strides made it so that he could be off set and to Yashiro in only a matter of seconds.

"Yashiro-san," Ren said concerned as he approached him further, "You okay? Why don't you rest a little?" he suggested but Yashiro waved him off. Ren took a deep breath in. He was concerned for his manager who was just as much of a professional as he was. They usually made an attempt to battle through things together.

"I'm fine," Yashiro told him, "It's not a problem."

Ren looked to the group and took a deep breath trying to come up with a solution that might be to everyone's benefit. He smiled weakly, food wasn't one of his absolute favorite topics of discussion but when someone felt ill, food was one way of making things a bit better.

"Do you want to eat?" he asked, "After the shoot we are probably going to lunch." Ren gestured to where the bento boxes were being given out and Yashiro laughed softly.

"Well," he commented, "I can eat."

He was joyful in this before a young actress came up to the two of them. She seemed very nervous about approaching Ren but they had just done a scene together. Ren was assuming she was trying to be as bold as possible. "Uh, if you don't mind, may I eat with you guys?" she asked. Ren opened his mouth to answer but was cut off. He looked away and then saw Maria with an evil gleam in her eyes.

"Of course you can," she said and Ren stared at her. He hadn't expected for her to be in the vicinity. He hadn't seen Maria outside the halls of LME for weeks, it was rare for her to show up on a set where he was and even more rare when the president didn't seem to be anywhere in sight.

"It's a great pleasure to have lunch with you," Maria said sweetly but Ren was suspicious of this angelic nature. "I prepared many sweets too. I hope you by all means enjoy them." As Maria said that, she opened a box where spiders were crawling over every part of it, too many to even count. Ren laughed a little as he looked at the box. This was one of Maria's pranks and it was a good thing that he enjoyed animals and insects. She would never be able to scare him with them.

The girl screamed loudly and Ren had to feel a little sorry for her as she ran off. Maria laughed coldly and Ren laughed slightly, he knew that she had problems but the two of them were born into well off families with no clue how to raise them. He knew about Maria's history with her father and how he didn't know how to interact just like his parents with somebody like him.

"Stop hanging around Ren, you old woman!" Maria called out before sticking her tongue out and making a rude expression. "Are you thick skinned or just blind?"

Ren laughed softly as he got down to Maria's level. He smiled kindly to her, already seeing a lot of similarities between Maria and Kyoko when she was younger. He tried to guard his heart again. Maria could exist in the world of Ren Tsuruga but the memory of Kyoko couldn't. He sighed. He had to feel bad for the woman though, she was attracted to him but he didn't want that. He didn't want the headache of all of that.

"Ren!" Maria yelled as she ran into his arms, "Long time no see!" she squealed, "I miss you so much"

"Yeah, long time no see" he told her and Maria laughed as she hugged him close. "Did you come here alone?" he asked her as Maria hung to his shirt and mumbled something happily into his chest. He really did feel like she was an extended family member to him. The president was family already so it made sense.

Maria pulled back and continued to smile, "Nope," she told him, "I have a band with me."

Ren blinked before he heard the sound of instruments playing and turned around in shock. The shock grew larger when he found it was a huge marching band. What on earth had led to the marching band being here? This wasn't something that had ever happened to him before. They had appeared from nowhere but there was one explanation that made sense despite how stealthily they had snuck up on them.

"Why!? Those people!? When did they get here!?" Yashiro said as he panicked and Ren felt sorry for him that he had still not become used to the president, Ren had seen it first hand as a child that the president was often like this even when he had just come and stayed with his parents on an international trip. He didn't want to share this information. It wasn't nepotism if you were skilled at your job right.

Ren focused on the sound of hooves and laughed, "Here come…" he said and the horse galloped up to them with the president riding on it, there was a huge banner behind him reading the LME full name.

The president smiled at Ren as he gave a peace signal, "Hey, Ren" he told him and Ren chuckled softly trying to keep his cool. "Long time no see. Been working hard?"

Ren laughed a little knowing that only he knew the reason for the special attention and favoritism that the president would show him. It was his relationship with the whole family, Ren was just the youngest member of his clan. "President," he laughed, "of course. Such an eye-catching entrance…why are you here?" he asked again and Lory smiled as he dismounted.

"I only came to look around," he said and Ren laughed awkwardly.

"To watch us film?" he asked. He wondered if something had been said about him that the president was worried about. Usually he didn't need to be concerned about his work, he had high standards and he consistently met them. The president wouldn't have any negative words on that, would he?

"No," Lory replied, "Only came here by convenience. Maria really wanted to see you so I took her along."

Maria blushed happily and put her hands to her cheeks, "That's cause I heard you are here, I couldn't help myself. Women are helpless against love's trap," she said and Ren felt a little nervous at having her say that. He tried to focus on the other words that were spoken about, it wasn't wise for him to ask more about Maria's crush on him.

"Convenience?" he asked her, "Where are you supposed to go?"

"Well," Maria said happily as she got down and turned to Ren looking very eager in her expression. "I heard that the commercial shooting ends today! It's her first job, so I prepared and brought her things to participate!" she said and Ren blinked. She had another actress that she was interested in and a shoot happening near them that Ren wasn't aware of, what was going on?

"Commercial shooting? Who?" Ren asked confused but saw the giant grin on Maria's face as if saying that she knew a secret that she could surprise and dazzle Ren with. She wanted to see what his emotions would be and how surprised that his friend was doing so well at her job. Her friend who liked curse dolls and magic was doing some extremely exciting advertising shoot.

…..

…..

Ren froze, his whole body turning numb as he watched the shoot. Kyoko looked absolutely gorgeous. She was wearing a school uniform and after throwing some daisies upon Kotonami-san, she had run around with her getting the feelings of friendship and freedom and happiness down and Ren felt that he was a child who would never get invited to play. He shouldn't expect anything from Kyoko anyway. He had been the one to fail her. If he had explained from the very beginning that it had only been a game to him when they were young and he never meant her pain, it would have been better than their current situation.

"Kyoko," Yashiro said as he watched them, "She passed the audition and it's also the other Love Me member as well," he stated before continuing to watch them. Ren tensed more, he felt that he shouldn't be there with them. He wasn't supposed to be happy and he didn't want to cause her more pain. It was best for him to leave beautiful things alone. "Impressive, impressive," Yashiro commented.

"Yes, very impressive," Maria smiled, "I've seen big sister at the training section as well. She's really cool," Maria said in admiration and Ren smiled hearing that. He wanted her to be happy. Even if he wasn't there for her to want to share her happiness with, it was good that she was happy. He nodded knowing that Lory was sponsoring her despite Ren making several attempts to direct his own money for that need.

He smiled as he thought about how she was improving her life. Even if he never spoke to her again then it would be worth the money by being able to see her become strong like this. Maria smiled at him but Ren turned towards the director. Was acting going to be her true passion? Was acting what she needed most, just like him? She wasn't doing it because of him, right?

He heard the director call cut and wondered whether he should leave the group or not. There was no way that Kyoko wanted to see him.

…..

…..

Ushiro walked over to the two Love Me member who had been playing, "You two acted well! Good job" he called after them and they turned around to face him. "You can go back now," he directed and Kyoko felt herself fall down into the flowers. She stretched her hand out and smiled.

"So tired, how long have we been doing 'natural comedy' now?" she asked feeling very exhausted by everything and Kyoko laughed. She was tired too but she had been acting and getting a step further in her career whilst enjoying her time in the sun and with Kanae, and she got to wear a school uniform. She hated to think about it but after the argument between herself and Ren, her school had been an issue she had ignored.

"You are so spirited," Kanae sighed. She closed her eyes before seeing a huge marching band start playing. She scrambled back and Kyoko sat beside her, the two of them were incredibly shocked at the fanfare. Kyoko saw the president and paused. They had done a good job, right? Had he come here for any particular reason?

…..

…..

Ushiro stood before the two Love Me girls and the president, he had had the crew gather up all the props and was getting the final pieces of equipment back with him. "The cover is well done but the outcome of the commercial depends on how I do it," he stated before looking at the president before turning back to Kyoko and Kanae. "I have confidence in getting the product and you popular. When the shooting finishes, I'll inform the management, just wait for it."

Kanae and Kyoko nodded as they stood there enthusiastically. They both bowed, saying their thank yous before turning to go off with Maria. Kyoko turned to see the president waiting behind them. She wondered what he had to say about them. He wasn't going to tell the director not to use LME as their company, right? After all, they did still work there despite not being in the acting section.

"By the way," Maria smiled saying a sentence that would lead to a dozen questions that weren't able to be answered, "Ren was here to see you."

End of Act 45

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

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