Act 53 – Lean On Me

Kyoko tried to steady her breathing with Corn slumped upon her. If anyone walked in on them then this would be nearly impossible to explain. He was exhausted and of course he would be exhausted. He had done so many scenes in the artificial rain whilst trying to get over a cold. Kyoko wanted to get him up but he was too heavy. He was positioned in a way where he wasn't crushing her but she didn't have the strength to push him up.

"Co-Corn?" she asked, hoping that would rouse him. "Can you get up?" she asked.

Taking a look at his facial expression, Kyoko's heart dropped in her stomach. He was shaking. He really wasn't doing okay and she worried for him. He had already sacrificed so much when it came to his acting. She tried to push his hair back to feel his forehead and he just shook even more. He was in such a bad shape that she was debating over whether to call a doctor but he might not forgive her if she did that.

Kyoko touched the back of his neck and felt her eyes widen. He was suffering and she hated to see her friend in so much pain. She sighed. The first thing that she had to do was get him up, otherwise she wouldn't be able to do anything. The more she wriggled and struggled though, the more she felt that she really was trapped under him.

She was like an insect, trapped by a cat under its paw. She closed her eyes before hearing someone laughing and realized it was Yumiko on her phone. Her eyes widened and she grit her teeth. Corn was in pain because of her stupid little game and she was carefree enough to be laughing during a conversation. This might lead to health complications for her friend who had sacrificed who knows what for his dreams.

She should have finished the act sooner. She should have shown him more respect. It was because of her that she couldn't get up. What more, it was an easy take and this was getting her more pissed off.

"What kind of tricks are you playing?" Kyoko fumed before hearing Ren shift. She closed her eyes bitterly before feeling him start to rise, his eyes showing pain in them.

"Rick?" he asked and Kyoko froze. Was he responding to that question? She hadn't meant that he was playing tricks on her. Ren looked at her confused, his body shaking in a different way.

"Yeah, tricks," Kyoko rolled her eyes, "That actress is -"

"Rick?" Ren asked and Kyoko stared at him, he was missing the t out of his word. His voice was probably sore and he couldn't really say that in such a delirious state. Would he be okay to continue his work? Ren now was looking down on her and seeing the emotional expression he had, Kyoko's eyes widened. Had something happened?

"I never meant to hurt him," he said and Kyoko looked at him with widened eyes. Somehow she couldn't help but feel a jab of pain in her own chest. She blinked as she tried to not feel dominated by the situation but gazing up at him, even Kyoko had to admit that he looked gorgeous and sexy and words that she had refused to acknowledge. Why the hell was she acknowledging them now?

"I'd do anything to take his place," Ren said before Kyoko opened her mouth to answer him. Who was he talking about? They were the only two here and that wasn't in any of the scripts that he had. Kyoko continued to stare at him not knowing how to respond and whilst she was in this position, he seemed to realize the situation. He looked at her with a faint comprehension of the situation.

"Eh?" he asked Kyoko who was in shock a little, "Wrong person…you're not Tina. What are you doing here?" he asked her and Kyoko stared at him with one question floating around and around in her mind. Who on earth was Tina!?

As Ren started to get himself up, he looked at her confused. What had happened? He remembered talking to her one moment and the next he was on the ground. His head felt incredibly heavy and there were cold chills through his body. He turned to Kyoko, "Did I faint?" he asked in a daze, "Ah, my head is so heavy, my feet are so light," he said as he tried to stand and walk and Kyoko watched him with even more worry.

"Ren, I think it's better if you don't continue your filming today," she tried to advise him but Ren stopped. It was more than obvious that he felt like crap but he didn't turn or make another movement. He just took slow breaths. Something was troubling him and it was beyond the physical ailments of a cold. He was suffering emotionally because of this Tina person.

Ren looked to her with a look that showed his inner thoughts, he wasn't going to give up on this scene despite his physical condition. This was what mattered most in his life. He had somehow given up everything for acting as if it was supposed to fix all of his problems. His work was most important and Kyoko knew that it was more than what any other actor felt but she didn't know why. His priority was his work and as an important friend, she wanted to be there for him. She just had to figure out how.

It was all because of his cold that he was feeling this way.

How could she cure his cold?

…

…

After the filming had wrapped, Ren still had to try to convince himself that his cold wasn't getting the best of him. Since the shooting was inside, it was a lot easier and it progressed smoothly. Ren was able to hide the fact that he was sick and deliver an amazing performance. As he walked down the corridor one of the crew members approached him.

"Tsuruga-san," the man said happily, "thank you for your hard work, this is the breakfast" he said despite the fact that it was already nearly mid afternoon. Ren took the bento box from him and nodded his head.

"Thank you," he managed to say and the crew member looked at him.

"Eh, your voice sounds a bit hoarse," he said and Ren laughed softly. He still wanted to pretend that he wasn't being affected by the cold that appeared to be going around.

"Haha, probably because I've been talking non-stop," Ren told him.

"That won't do," the crew member attempted to advise him, "You need to drink water frequently." Ren nodded and laughed in response and the crew member started to survey the area. "Speaking of which," he began again, "Where is your manager? I haven't seen her. Next you have to go do your work, right?"

Ren sighed and nodded. He trusted Kyoko to not fool around and play games but had he somehow frightened her so much that she had run off and left him here to deal with things alone. He wanted to believe in her but with everything that had gone on recently, it would be his fault if he lost their friendship again. He hoped that he hadn't done that.

"Ah, that's bad…" the crew member replied, "the director was right. She's probably happily shopping right now, she's still a kid. If she's not back after you eat, I suggest you leave first."

Ren sighed and nodded, "You're right," he said as the crew member began to take his leave. Ren looked down at the bentos, there were two of them and two pairs of chopsticks. So, she had abandoned him. He was a grown man though, abandoning wasn't the type of word that he wanted to use but now he had to have two things to eat and he wasn't really feeling up to eating. It wasn't just his throat but his stomach as well and his will power that made it hard for him to eat. He looked a little dazed as he stared at it feeling uncomfortable.

He put a hand to his forehead again and when he raised his head, the area seemed to be waving in front of him. He felt dizzy again. It was as if he had been knocked over. He felt absolutely exhausted and drained and the world wasn't making sense visually anymore. Was he going to faint in front of everybody? He couldn't show them his weakness.

As he started to shake, he felt something behind him propping him up and turned to see that Kyoko had used her head to steady him. He managed to catch his breath enough to stand on his own and then turned back to the teenage girl.

"You're lucky…" she tried to joke with him and Ren blinked confused, "You're lucky that I made it in time and I thought I wouldn't get back in time," she huffed and Ren stared at the bags that she had put down. She had been shopping? He would have never expected for her to be one to shirk her duties in order to shop.

"You went shopping?" he asked her and then saw how sweat covered Kyoko but she was smiling so happily as well.

"Yep," she said excitedly whilst panting to get her breath back. Ren had to admit that she looked adorable as she stood there with that amazing smile on her face showing that she really had done her best.

…..

…

Kyoko sat in the car during the ride to their next location and she dug into her bags seeming to be working on something. Ren turned to her, he sighed loudly, "Didn't I tell you not to report anything t the boss?" he asked her and Kyoko sighed.

"I had to ask him for some money," she told Ren, "to ensure that you can focus on your work, I made a lot of preparations."

Ren turned to her lost in a mix of confusion and interest. She had gone shopping to prepare something for him, knowing Kyoko it could be anything. It could be something that would help him or something that she only thought would help him. However, she was creative enough to surprise him in a way that he would never expect.

"First is," Kyoko announced as she took something out, "the cold pad," she announced before placing it smoothly on his forehead and then dug through the bag as he started to feel a little better with his fever being combatted by the cold pack. "There's cold medicine, plus water, I don't think you have a water bag at your house, feather pillow, and this is…"

Kyoko pulled something out of the bag and started to grind it furiously, scaring Ren a little. This was the same as she had been when shaking the sodas up during the commercial. When she had something in her mind that she needed to do, she would do it with high energy. Ren watched as she poured on some honey and then handed him the dish.

"This…" Kyoko smiled at him, "You were supposed to cut it into small pieces and then put it in, but I figured that since your appetite wouldn't be very good, eating now would probably be very painful so I thought of making this," Kyoko announced before leaning forward with the type of smile that Ren did truly love. "Please eat. This stuff is very good for sore throats."

Ren watched her before starting to eat as she had insisted. She really was doing her best for him and to care for him. He felt guilty that there were still so many walls that had to be there between her and the proper him but he wasn't even in contact with his own family…not that his family would want to contact him.

"Tsuruga-san," Kyoko urged, "even if you don't want to, you still have to force yourself to eat it because otherwise you won't be able to take the medicine," she told him before taking out some more equipment for him. Ren looked at her wondering how much longer he would have to keep her out for, it was best for both of them and yet nobody had cared about him in this way for years. He had to be careful to make sure that this didn't develop beyond friendship.

Ren took another spoonful of the iced concoction and smiled at how it was easy to eat. He looked towards Kyoko wondering how much of this the driver was hearing. Kyoko looked to him with that strong sense of determination she had always been known for.

"From now on I'll be giving my all into helping you. I won't let you be held back in any of your jobs and at the same time, I'll help you get better. If you feel dizzy again, at that time, feel free to lean on me."

Ren turned to her again, he opened his mouth to say something but then closed it soon after. He was going to find it very very difficult not to fall in love with her.

End of Act 53

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Thank you to the reviewers of Act 52

Brennakai, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, luv2readgirl