Act 61 – To Thank You
Kyoko smiled as she dug out her phone from her pocket. She wondered if it was Kanae or whether it was Sawara-san, both of those would be exciting for her because if it was Sawara-san, that might mean that she had a job offer for a new commercial or he knew of an audition. No. People would want Moko for the jobs, not her. Still, an audition where she could prove herself seemed fun.
Kyoko paused as she saw that her phone wasn't showing anything, maybe a result of the low battery power. She didn't realize that she had accidentally turned the show caller ID off. She picked it up thinking that it would be from the office. "Hello?" she asked before the voice on the other end made her heart stop.
"Hi," Ren said and Kyoko heard his cool smooth voice, it made her heart stop in her chest and she felt a warm feeling rushing through her veins as if she were special. As far as she knew, he was still overseas but she wanted to see him. She wanted to tell him all about her first weeks at school. "It always takes you so long to answer the phone," he joked.
Kyoko felt her back straighten as if she were being scolded by him. No. She wasn't getting scolded, she hadn't done anything that she needed to be scolded for.
"Still not used to using your cellphone?" Ren said with a soft laugh and Kyoko's eyes widened. He was calling her whilst she was out in public. She felt scared to say his name because then people might come to a weird conclusion and she wanted to protect him. How was she supposed to answer this call when she was standing in a busy street. She knew it was his voice which meant that he must be back in Japan and she wanted to see him but she couldn't say that. She couldn't draw attention to herself.
"Also," Ren said as he obviously didn't understand the feelings that the phone call had brought to her, "You count as an artist who has been on TV already, you should not walk the streets with a scary face," he commented and Kyoko felt a shock through her. How was he able to know the expression that was on her face? Was he watching her somewhere? Why couldn't he say hi like a normal - no, the real question was, why wasn't she hearing the screams of fangirls in the distance all swooning over him?
Kyoko looked around wanting to find him, she wanted to talk to him and update him on her life. He always listened to her when she said those things. She wanted to find him. "No," he laughed, "My bad, even if you aren't an artist, a lady should not make such a scary face. Am I right?" he asked and Kyoko whipped her head from side to side trying to search for him. She had been eagerly anticipating his return to Japan and now that he was near her, he was hiding from her? Didn't he realize how much she wanted to see him.
Kyoko finally looked up and saw Yashiro-san standing there looking down at her and Kyoko felt her heart shake in her chest telling her how nervous she was but the fact was that where there was Yashiro, Ren wasn't usually far behind. Finally, Kyoko turned in the right direction and saw his smiling face. She had missed him. She had missed her good friend so much. Corn always made her feel stronger and she didn't want to burden him by telling him how lonely she had been when he had gone away. Even if they were arguing about him being ill, he comforted her more than she had ever been comforted in the past.
She noticed the dreamy smile on his face as he wore his jacket and a loose tee. He could wear anything and with that affection in his eyes, she would think him the most gorgeous man in the world. Still, after so much sacrifice, she couldn't expect for him to make future sacrifices, especially for her.
She saw him walk – almost gliding – down the steps as he approached her. Kyoko sighed, trying to stop herself from swooning. She needed to be strong and dependable. She needed to push away romance and embrace friendship, that's what he deserved. As the two of them approached Kyoko she tried to keep herself balanced, her breathing steady. She wanted to approach them professionally since Ren had warned her not to treat him like Kuon out in public.
"Congratulations, Kyoko-san," Yashiro said with a strong smile on his face as he faced the sixteen-year-old, "Your first commercial is out for the world to see," he said and Kyoko nodded. Both of them were a little confused over why she wasn't more excited about this. Yashiro paused, was this the humble nature that Ren had mentioned. "You did an excellent job. You looked very cute in the commercial."
Kyoko paused. She had been hearing that a lot and it made her feel a little angry. Only the people that she already knew had such a reaction and cute wasn't what she was going for. Anyone could be cute, you didn't even have to be human to be cute. "Is that so?" she asked with a dark anger circling around her which confused Yashiro, "Thank you very much."
Kyoko shook her head and then pulled her head up so that she could make eye contact with Ren. She was trying to avoid talking about how much she missed him and how she had wanted for him to return sooner. It wasn't her place to make comments of that nature. "Let's not talk about such a boring thing right now, Tsuruga-san."
Yashiro's eyes widened and he began to twitch as he had to ask himself why Kyoko had used that word. This was her first commercial, her first acting job, it was a precious memory to her, right? Was she really calling her debut boring, most people would be thrilled at seeing themselves on a large TV screen.
"Tsuruga-san," Kyoko said and then looked away, "Your number didn't come up on my phone. Is it -"
Ren blinked at her before pulling his phone out and noticed that it was set on an international mode. Kyoko's phone was probably too basic to handle the complicated coding that the other people's cell phones he had contacted would do. This was his fault for not getting her the latest model in fear that she'd return it.
Ren laughed, "Actually," he said as he looked to her, "I've been trying to find you. I didn't realize that my calls weren't going through."
Kyoko smiled before looking down, her cheeks turning red at what he was saying. He could have come to Daruma-ya to find her since he knew that she both worked there and lived there. However, the fact that he was looking for her at all made her very happy. She looked at him, her body twitching as she tried to hide how happy that comment had made her. She didn't want to draw attention to them in the middle of the city.
"I've been busy so I didn't have a chance to contact you before," he said and Kyoko could tell from his facial expression that he had been debating on whether to come to the restaurant or not. To do so he would have had to make an excuse and Ren was the type of person who didn't want to bring her extra attention, she was thankful to him for that. "Luckily, Sawara-san told me I might see you here today."
Kyoko paled. Sawara-san had told him that? He hadn't told him the job that she was doing, had he? She didn't want for Ren to know that she had taken advantage of her position with Bo in order to talk to him. She didn't want for him to be disillusioned that there really were other people wanting to help him in the world. She looked to him nervously but his expression didn't change, he wasn't looking at her as if she had betrayed him.
"I heard that it is part of Love Me section's work, but you're not wearing that uniform of yours," he commented and Kyoko blinked in surprise. He didn't know about Bo?
"No, today's only by chance. I came straight from school to work, so…" Kyoko attempted to explain.
Ren grinned as he took her in and Kyoko was imagining some type of special feeling directed towards her. "That's good too. I like seeing how you look in your uniform. It makes me happy that you're enjoying the life of a school girl. It's something happy for you, right?" Kyoko was about to answer but Ren's next comment caught her off guard, "This uniform really suits you."
Kyoko bowed her head to hide how red her cheeks got, she didn't know that Yashiro had a shocked look as well. Ren usually wasn't this forward but something about Kyoko was making it so that he was giving her compliments that he hadn't given to any other girl before. This was as if it were only the thirty-seventh chapter of a very long manga and Ren was already admitting to his feelings without Kyoko reciprocating them, but that was only a similarity to something that he had been reading.
Ren turned to Yashiro, "Did you hear that she received full points on her entrance exam," he said and Kyoko turned an even darker shade of red as more blood came to her face.
"Really?" Yashiro asked excitedly, "You, wow, amazing Kyoko," he said excitedly and Ren grinned, happy that Kyoko was being complimented and praised for her hard work. She had really dedicated herself to that test.
"Th—Thank you," Kyoko said shyly, "Actually, it's because they were all basic questions…" Kyoko looked down nervously again, "about this….I think I should be thanking you," she said and Ren smiled. She had already thanked him for being there for her, was she forgetting this fact? "Though you may have said those words unconsciously, they freed me from all those pressures. I must thank you," she said as she dropped down into a bow.
Ren looked at her with a neutral expression. He had actually planned those words because he wanted to encourage her and help her with her beautiful future. He only wanted the best for her. He wanted her heart to be filled with beauty and things that made her happy. She deserved to be happy. Kyoko had even told him before how much those words of his meant to her and the shining light that made the path before her even lighter. He was just glad that he had been able to give that to her.
Yashiro looked between them. As surprised as he was to see Kyoko bowing to Ren and saying these things, as he turned to Ren, he could see that Kyoko meant a lot to him and a lot more than friendship was conveyed in that expression. He had truly fallen for her. He really did care about her and he had always let himself be so guarded. He was smitten with her and it was beyond obvious to Yashiro that this was the case.
"The one who should be saying thank you should be me," Ren told her and Kyoko looked at him in surprised. "This is also why I came to find you today. That day…thanks to you, I managed to get there on time."
Kyoko shook her head, "Your attendance is the proof of a professional actor so, the attendance record, as your manager…I wanted to…" Kyoko started to speak softer and Ren smiled at her.
"I wanted to thank you, though it was too bad you switched with Yashiro-san, while I was working. You were already gone when I realized. That's why today I would like to give you your stamp," he explained and Kyoko stared at him. She happily dug out her book although she felt guilty that she hadn't stayed for him because of how she had to film that day. She wondered how many points he would give to her.
End of Act 61
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Thank you to the reviewers of Act 60
H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD