PROVOKING THE ENEMY.
Incessantly banging her fist on the door, which had the Sho Fuwa name plate hung on it, Kyoko barged in the spacious and elegant dressing room. With a dozen lights shimmering from the ceiling on the ostentatious display of the beautiful wallpapers, this room looked like a palace compared to her own small, dingy cell.
Shouko, who was midway to the door, gasped in horror when she found Kyoko on the other side, with her brows creased in an indignant frown.
Sho leasurely turned his head from the dressing mirror, expecting to see some crazy fangirl behind him. However, his features twisted with recognition when he laid eyes on the girl standing there staring daggers at him. "It's you..." He remained surprised for a moment before regaining his composure. Clearing his throat he went on, "I see you dyed your hair back. What are you doing here?"
Kyoko invited herself in. With a few long strides, she placed herself in front of Sho, a hailstorm brewing in her cold eyes. "Long time no see," she greeted him, but there was nothing particularly warm and friendly in her tone. "I want to talk."
"Well then," Sho held her chilling gaze without flinching away. "Talk!"
They quietly stood there for a few moments, staring coldly into each other's eyes. Shouko cocked her head side to the side glancing at each of them. She stepped closer as well just in case their staring contest evolved into a physical brawl.
At last, Kyoko began, "I came here for my Japonet Scoop interview. On the way, I met at a band called the Vie Ghouls. They quite reminded me of a certain someone's debut."
"So?" Sho turned and faced the mirror. "They topped the sales charts, so it's only natural. What does that have to do with you?"
"How can you say that like you don't even care?" Kyoko bit out venomously. She stomped ahead and slammed her first on the dressing table. "You're losing! And to your own copycats! Don't give me that! You can be okay with this but I'm not! I'm the one who poured my sweat working hard to get you where you are today. Without my sacrifices, you would have been nothing. And now you're just letting a bunch of newbies without any talent of their own beat you! You disgust me!"
Sho looked down to hide his face. He tried not to show how much Kyoko's words stung him. Tried, but failed.
"Oh, I get it," a humorless smirk made it's way to her lips. "You are suffering. You're just pretending to be cool and act like you don't care. Well, let me break it to you, playing it cool only makes it seem like you're running away from the fight. That thrown together bunch of copycats is stealing your audience and you don't even have the guts to face them. You're such a coward!"
"What...did you say?" he looked up. This time there was only plain rage on his face. His eyes glinted with a cold warning as if daring her to continue.
"I called you a coward because that's exactly what you are!" She grumbled. "I finally see just how much pride you have as an artist. To lose to your own copycats! You probably deserve it, since you're not ready to fight back, since you're not even trying to show the world that the real thing is much better than some sad imitation. Your audience won't even care anymore who is who after-"
"Shut up!" Almost shaking with hysterical anger, he snapped.
"Why? It's the truth. If you keep pretending that everything's alright, then it won't be long when you will be kicked away from the top and lose your place completely. You'll go crawling back to your parents begging them to take you in-"
"I said shut up!" Sho roared as he wildly swung his hand towards Kyoko before he could stop himself.
Only when his palm connected with her cheek and the loud flaring sound of a tight slap menacingly cut through the air, did he realize what he had just done.
He looked at his culpable hand with disbelief as if it had moved on its own accord and was solely responsible. Then, slowly, his eyes drifted up to Kyoko.
She was covering her wounded cheek from her hand. An aura so malicious and dangerous radiated off her, that he shuddered and took a couple of steps back. "Are you okay?" He blurted. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."
Kyoko sent him an arctic look that instantly shut him up. Removing her hand from her cheek, she noticed that her finger was a little moist and red. Instantly, she walked up to the mirror to examine her face and found a small cut on her cheeks slashed with the help of the sharp edges of Sho's finger ring.
Kyoko immediately pressed the wound from her fingers to stop the blood from seeping out, as she once again turned her full attention to Sho, to give him a taste of the cold fury that was brewing in her fiery hazel eyes. "How dare you!" She hissed. "To an actress's face of all things!"
Staring at Sho through her brows, she walked closer, in an agonisingly slow and menacingly pace, just like a tiger about to entrap it's prey. With every step she took, Sho inched back. "That face of yours, you think it's so pretty. Just you wait, I'll put an even deeper scar on it!" And she pounced on him.
"No!" Shouko snaked her arms around Kyoko's waist and pulled her back. "Anything but that!"
"Let go! Today's the day I kill him!" Kyoko shouted like a madwoman and tried to wiggle out of her grasp but Shouko was stronger. Her captor firmly held her back while yelling for security.
Outside the dressing room, two of the members of the band Vie Ghouls, shifted away from the small creek in the door through which they had been peeping inside, before they could get caught by the security.
"Well," Miroku, the guy with the straight, long, chestnut hair, remarked. "It seems that girl and Fuwa have an... unusual relationship."
Reino shrugged.
"Why did you want to spy on them? Did you know they were gonna fight?"
"No. It's that girl, Kyoko," Reino answered with a small, mysterious smirk. "She certainly seems plain at first, but once you get a closer look, you'll see that she is surprisingly interesting."
Miroku's jaw drop from shock. He exclaimed, "that's... the first time I've heard you say you're interested in a girl! I mean, really, I was almost sure that you were gay!"
Ren was waiting for his manager, Yashiro outside the set of Dark Moon after the shoot was done so they could leave. As he stood there, he heard some of the extra actresses with minor roles gossiping, without any particular interest.
"Who does she think she is?"
"I know, right? Last night I specifically checked the credits at the end of the video. It really was her. I have seen it so many times before but I never would have thought that the girl playing the angel was Mogami."
Ren's ears pricked up at the sound of her name. He inched a little closer to them so he could hear better.
"Just look at her! She is using the makeup and costume to completely deceive people!"
"The must have used a bunch of filters on her."
Ren saw Yashiro approaching, who was also looking at those girls as if he was listening to them as well.
Before Ren could stop himself, he blurted out, "what are they talking about?"
"Should I tell you?" Yashiro wiggled his eyebrows with an evil smile. "Since when do you take interest in girl's gossip?"
"I just got curious," Ren shrugged and tried to play it cool. "So... What were they saying about... Kyoko?" The last word was a shy whisper.
"Do you want to know that badly?" Yashiro's mischievous smile widened as he narrowed his eyes in mock-suspicion.
Ren didn't move a muscle on his face as he considered the question for a moment. At last, he replied, "no." He twirled to walk away. "Never mind, I'm sure it must be something silly..."
"You've gotta be kidding me! Hey, don't walk off like that!" Yashiro sprinted after him. "See what I got here for you." He took out a compact disk from his bag and handed it to his client.
"What is this?"
"What else? It's what those girls were talking about." Yashiro flashed his teeth cheerfully. "It's Kyoko's or should I say Sho Fuwa's promo video."
"I'll pass," Ren didn't even glance at it, much less take it.
"What? Even after I went to the trouble of borrowing it for you?" Yashiro didn't put the disk away. Instead, he shoved it into Ren's hands. "You still don't want to see it even though it's an absolute must-watch?"
"No."
"Even though your precious Kyoko is looking absolutely stunning in it?"
Ren paused to consider. "You've already seen it? "
"Yup! Trust me you don't wanna miss it, Kyoko looked really cute!" He winked.
Ren remained as silent as ever, but the hard shell on his face was somehow cracked and beneath it, Yashiro sensed desperation. So he kept pushing.
"Not only cute she looked exquisite."
Ren still didn't say anything.
"Not only that, she was inhumanly gorgeous!"
Ren cocked his head to the side to hide the look on his face. It was working!
Yashiro shoved the disk in his face and exclaimed, "she played an angel but she looked divine enough to be a goddess!"
Through clenched teeth Ren muttered at last, "no matter what you say, it's not going to make me want to watch it."
Yashiro backed away and sighed in defeat. "Any normal person in your position would be dying to see it. Sometimes I have no clue what goes through your head!"
It's not like I don't want to watch it. Of course, I do, Ren thought to himself. However, not with him.
"I wonder what Sho Fuwa must have thought when he saw her like that," Yashiro shared his thoughts.
"What do you mean?"
"He must have never thought of Kyoko as more than a childhood friend but in that video, even when he was acting, you could see the surprise on his face. He was like, 'has she always been this beautiful?'"
"I doubt it," Ren assured Yashiro, but mostly himself. "I think he knows that it's too late for him."
"I think it's precisely because he knew her from childhood that he was taken aback. I mean even I was shocked when I saw her transformed like that and I had known Kyoko only for a while. For Fuwa, it must have been a bolt from the blue. I wouldn't be surprised if he falls for her..."
Things were not going well for Kyoko. After the guards busted her trying to attack Sho, they almost kicked her out. If it hadn't been for Swara apologizing on her behalf, she would have been cut off from the program.
The next morning when she went to his office at the agency, she had to suffer his wrath. Because not only did she tarnish her own image but as a member of LME, she brought down the name of the agency as well.
"Why do you always get so crazy when Fuwa is involved?" Swara slammed his fists on the table making Kyoko sit up straighter. "Do have any idea how much I had to plead so you don't get kicked out of the program?"
"Sorry," she croaked. Even after suffering so much humiliation, she was the one apologizing. I probably deserves this. If only I had stood up to those beagles instead of raiding Sho's room, I wouldn't be in this mess. Beagles was a little nickname Kyoko had come up with for the Vie Ghouls. Firstly because it rhymed, and secondly, because all five of them were no better than dogs.
"You have to be more careful," Swara sighed. "Your action don't just affect you anymore-" Suddenly he was interrupted by a knock on the door. They both turned their heads at the same time to look at the intruder.
"I hope I'm not too early."
"Oh Ren," Swara smiled and waved him inside. "I've got the stuff you asked for last night."
"Thank you. I called you so late that..." his voice trailed off when he finally noticed her. "Kyoko?"
Her heart almost crawled out of her chest at the sound of his voice. She was seeing Ren after almost ten days, since they had different shifts for the shoot on the set of Dark Moon.
Today there schedules were lined up for the first time since two weeks, so Kyoko was pretty pumped to see him again. Yet, it got ruined by Ren showing up at the worst time possible, right when she was being scolded.
After Ren received a package from Swara, he made his way out with Kyoko behind him. Since they were both going to the set, he offered her a ride just like she had expected.
Kyoko almost cursed herself for accepting and being so lame at making excuses, because the moment he started driving he asked her one of the two things she had been dreading to talk about.
"So, Swara seemed pretty angry?"
"Well," her back stiffened and she plastered on a nervous smile. "Yesterday I kinda screwed up some work." Please don't ask what!
"Oh. Anyway, how did that happen?" He nodded towards her face.
"What?" Please don't let him be asking about the wound, she begged her luck. It was the second thing she had been dreading to tell, specially him. Considering what a bad liar she was, she pretty much gave up trying to come up with a believable excuse.
"That band-aid?" Apparently luck wasn't on her side.
Kyoko touched the small band-aid stuck to her cheek. "Oh...that...err... It happened in an unfortunate...work-related accident?" It sounded more like a question than an explanation.
Fortunately, Ren didn't probe any further. But he did try to reason with her. "You should have been more careful. As an actress, your face is your most important asset."
"I'm sorry!" She cried.
"You don't need to apologize. Fortunately, it's nothing serious." He passed her a kind smile.
Kyoko almost sighed with relief when she saw he didn't get mad. She couldn't help smiling back through the rest of the ride.
The moment Kyoko stepped out of Ren's car, she felt the gaze of the entire crew upon her. They stared at her with wide, shocked eyes as if she had just returned from doing something nefarious. Why they were staying though she could not figure out. She shot Ren a questioning glance but if he had any idea what was wrong he didn't show it.
The curious eyes kept following Kyoko even as she walked in side by side with Ren.
"What's wrong? Why is everyone just standing?" Apparently, Ren was just as clueless as she was because when he couldn't take the silence anymore, he questioned one of the crew guys.
But before they could get an answer from him, Ogata appeared interrupting them, "Ren, you're finally here!" His eyes slid over to Kyoko. "Wait, why are you two together? I thought Ren would be late because he had to stop at the office first?"
"Yes, I was at the agency," Ren explained. "That's where I ran into Kyoko, so I offered her a ride."
Could it be? Kyoko wondered. Could it be that they are acting wierd because I came here with Ren? But that seems ridiculous. Everybody was aware that they were from the same agency. It was only natural that they knew each other. If that wasn't the case then why else would they be staring at her?
"Kyoko, I almost forgot." Ogata turned to her. "You've got a visitor."
"Me?" She asked with surprise.
"Yes. He had been here a long time. I told him your shift would start later but he said he would wait."
"Who is it?" She could not think of anyone who was close enough to come to visit her at the set.
Before the Director could reply, the crowd parted to make way for him as he walked over to her. A certain sixteen-year-old blond guy who looked completely ordinary dressed up in a casual brown jacket and denim jeans, but nothing about him was ordinary. Every single person with a five mile radius recognized him, since he was currently ruling over the music industry of Japan. It was no other than Sho Fuwa.
Kyoko finally understood the reason why everyone acting so odd around her. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. She was tempted to say something nasty like, 'how dare you show up here?' But she held her words back feeling the heavy gaze of the entire crew on the both of them. Especially the cold eyes of Ren drilling holes on the back of her neck. She resisted a deep chill.
She knew she had to get somewhere away before Sho opened his stupid mouth and started talking casually with her making everyone even more suspicious about their relationship.
Fortunately, the Director understood her reluctance in talking in front of the entire crew, so he quietly suggested that they use the empty lobby to get some privacy.
Without a word, she grabbed Sho by the arm and dragged him outside.
