Act 57 – The Unattainable 100%

Kyoko watched Ren with a grin on her face. Even though he was sick with a headache, he was still acting and still working. He was trying to perform and that was admirable. He had such a duty to his job and for the people around him that he wasn't just going to complain about being sick. That was something that she shared with him. She didn't want to disappoint him or those who were around her. He was sick but because he loved acting so much, he was trying his best and he was capitvating.

Whatever he had sacrificed to be able to perform his job so well, he was keeping that in mind and one day maybe he'd be able to get back what he traded for a chance to be in the acting arena. She idolized him and admired him and now that she had seen his work up close, she knew that she wanted to be just like him.

She wanted to be an actress that Japan would be proud to call one of its own. Kyoko held onto the text book for her future examination but despite knowing that she had to study in order to do her best on the tests, she kept watching him. He was stunning and breath catching and it felt like an impossible idea to look away from him for even a second.

Kyoko felt her heart beat as she remembered the smile that he had given her when she had said that she wanted to create a new version of herself and she didn't want to do it for anyone else's benefit, just her own. He was kind and affectionate and she felt honored to have been chosen by him. She definitely didn't want to risk creating a divide in their friendship ever again.

She was proud to be his friend. She was happy that she got to watch him up close. She really hated to admit it but couldn't she love him and yet still pretend to wrestle with that love? It was a possibility.

…..

…..

Kuon came out of his bedroom later that night with a new water bottle that he had taken out of the fridge. He looked at Kyoko who had fallen asleep atop of her books at the table in the living room. He smiled as he watched her. She looked so blissful and happy. He hated to wake her but he knew that she would strain her back in her current condition. As much as waking her would break this image of her being so peaceful and innocent, it was for her own good that he were to do so.

He smiled to himself as he got closer to her and gently put a hand to the top of her head, he stroked her hair away from her forehead just slightly. "Missy," he grinned as he sat opposite her. "You'll catch a cold sleeping here," he said as she started to wake up. His hand – his touch, it felt nice. It was soothing her, making her feel better. She blinked as she looked up at him and saw the dazzling smile.

"There's a bed in the guest room," he told her, "Have a good sleep," he said and Kyoko was caught back by the sincerity of his words and the way he obviously cared about her. She felt a little strange. Not many people cared about her in the way that he seemed to right at this moment. Kyoko pulled back in shock and fear. Had she shown him a more vulnerable part of herself, she hadn't meant to.

"What? That type of reaction?" he asked, focusing on the shocked expression that she had carried on her face.

"No-nothing," Kyoko said quickly. She was trying to keep her heart from reacting to his words but seeing such a graceful smile on his lips had caught her by surprise. It was as if she were living inside of her own romantic movie or fairy tale. She had wanted to live in her fairy tale for so long but Shotaro had shown her the misfortunes of those silly women. She didn't want to substitute Kuon into his place.

"You didn't sleep last night because you were taking care of me, right?" Kuon asked her and Kyoko remained speechless, "Even if you are taking an exam, there's a limit to studying."

Kyoko looked at him in shock. She couldn't reject other people's kindness, especially the people who were depending on her. She had often felt that she had failed her own mother, she never wanted to fail anyone else ever again. "The president was kind enough to arrange for my studies and I didn't really study before that," she said quickly. She had been watching him act with such enthusiasm that the acting had become her first priority.

"I want to know," Kuon said in a calm voice, "Why do you want to study so much?"

Kyoko looked at him panicked, her face turned a bright red as she looked at him.

"You're acting as if you must get perfect on all subjects."

Kyoko sat upright as her face showed that she had just realized this. She had always wanted to get the highest marks possible because her mother would never let anything less than perfect be seen from her own daughter. That made it nearly impossible for Kyoko to concentrate on anything else and she was always putting herself down and calling herself stupid and not good enough when those lower marks were returned to her. She gasped as she looked straight in front of her and Kuon looked at her sympathetically.

Kyoko realized that no matter what she did, her mother would not be looking over her shoulder so she didn't have to worry about that. She wasn't trying to get these test scores that her mother would demand, she only had to do well enough to get into the school. Her mother had never been pleased by anything that she had done but this time it wasn't up to her mother and she had unknowingly been pulled into her thinking.

As she realized the time and effort that she had spent still living within her mother's traps. Kyoko laughed. She had been caught in the habits that her mother had placed her in. She was trying to do things that she would have done when she was a child when, in fact, her situation was much different than when she had been that younger Kyoko.

Kuon smiled as Kyoko managed to free herself, her laughter proving that she was getting happier and happier in her life. The joy had to continue to spread. Kuon would do anything to help that joy continue to spread in Kyoko's heart. Seeing her happy brought him happiness that he hadn't felt for a long time. It was healthy to care about other people and it was a situation that he had forgotten recently.

"Working hard is a good thing," Kuon tried to advise, "but nothing should be overdone or else it would be a shame to faint on the day of the exam." Kyoko looked at him with wide eyes which gave Kuon the information that that had happened to her before. She would often stay up all night trying to cram the information into her head and then feel dizzy during the actual test and not be able to concentrate on it. "Was I right?" Kuon asked and Kyoko nodded weakly.

"My body's not as weak as yesterday," he told her as he continued to smile to her, "sleep tight tonight. Go and clean yourself up with a bath," he told her and Kyoko's eyes widened. It hadn't been since she lived here that she had had a bath and she missed them a lot. Kuon's bath was also luxurious, the water temperature was warm and the bath was a good size. She had often felt that she was getting pampered just by being in there.

"I don't live here…taking a bath is…" Kyoko said nervously and Kuon blinked.

"What?" he asked with a neutral expression on his face, "are you worried?" he asked before raising an eyebrow. Was she having feelings for him? He had told her to try to not fall for him, he couldn't afford to have special people here who he might have to abandon at a moment's notice or with no notice at all. "Are you scared that I'd peek while you take your bath?" he asked and Kyoko stared at him.

Kyoko paused as she looked at Kuon who was shrugging as if telling her that he could easily get better than her. Kyoko paused, she knew that she was younger than the women he would probably want to date. She knew she wasn't the most attractive or the most sexy but she had a strong feeling that he had only made such a gesture and expression in order to piss her off.

"Then, I'll just help myself and use the bathroom," Kyoko announced passionately and Kuon smiled.

"Okay, please do," he said as he grabbed another bottle of water. "I will have to sleep as well. You know where the guest room is so please don't come to the wrong room."

Kyoko stared at him, "I wouldn't come even if you begged me," she argued and Kuon laughed.

"Because it's comfortable, don't end up –"

"I will not fall asleep in the bathroom!" Kyoko continued passionately and Kuon shook his head playfully as he made his way to the bedroom. Kyoko stood up too, she stared after him and saw that playful expression on his face.

"Because you can't sleep, don't end up-"

"I will not oversleep" Kyoko said and didn't realized that Kuon was smiling at how cute she was when she acted so passionately. Of course, it was different than most of the people who surrounded Kuon. She wasn't trying to flirt with him and being coy and playful but being real. He needed real in his world.

…

…

As the morning began, Ren and Kyoko both felt a shared anger as they sat in the car in the middle of traffic. Things were not going well and Kyoko didn't want to risk the one thing that it seemed they would lose the most at this time, Ren's perfect attendance record. There was nothing that they could do at this point and Kyoko was coming up with numerous possibilities but none of those seemed to be working.

The driver of the car felt the sweat run down the back of his shirt as he tried to keep his calm.

"Mister," Kyoko said as she leaned forwards, the sound of cars honking all around her. "The car hasn't moved for a long time," she said as she attempted to keep calm, "we'll end up being late if this continues."

"This…" the driver said as he felt himself in a very unfortunate situation, "I can't do anything."

End of Act 57

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Thank you to the reviewers of Act 56

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