VALENTINE'S DAY.
Sho had chosen the back entrance of the TV station to wait for his manager since he had expected it to be a lot less crowded. To his advantage, it was almost empty when he arrived there. The only exception was a teenage girl with familiar short-cropped ginger hair.
He blinked. Before he had a chance to react, she covered her ears and frantically jumped back, literally bumping into him.
She finally saw him and her eyes widened with the same recognition he had.
"Kyoko," he whispered.
The recognition in her eyes turned into panic. She tried to hide the small red chocolate box behind her back but it was too late. Sho had already seen it. Anger flared up inside him when he remembered what Kyoko had said to him on the phone yesterday when she mistook him for that Beagle.
I said I'll give you the chocolates on Valentine's Day, you Beagle! There're still four more days left!
Kyoko tried to make a run for it but before she could succeed, Sho grabbed her by her shoulder. "Wait just a minute!" He minced his words, trying to control the raging flames inside him. His lethal stare fixated on the poorly hidden box she was holding.
"What?" She snapped.
"What is that?" He didn't need to point at the box for her to know what he was talking about.
"What is what?" Trying to ignore the dread rippling throughout her body, Kyoko gulped.
"Don't play dumb," his fingers tightened, squeezing her shoulder almost painfully. "What's in that box?" He asked again.
"That's none of your business!"
He snatched the box away from her. "Those are chocolates, aren't they?" He guessed before he opened it to confirm his suspicions. He glared at the contents inside where he found a brown truffle with a white heart drawn on it.
"Hey! Give that back!" Kyoko tried snatching it back, but failed.
"I knew it," his furious brown eyes shifted from the chocolates to her face. "After everything that had happened, you made chocolates for that creepy perverted stalker!"
Kyoko frowned, her panic returning. "How do you know that?" She went to the trouble to meet Reino out here just so she wouldn't be seen with him. She needed to keep this chocolates thing a secret, yet Sho somehow found out about it.
"So they really are for him!" He threw the box on the floor in a blinding fit of rage.
"No!" Kyoko ran after it to pick it up.
"So he means that much to you now, huh?" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. His eyes menacingly cold and his voice dangerously hushed. "That you're making chocolate for him on Valentine's Day! You got no one else, so you go and fall for literally the first guy who would look your way, that nutcase of a stalker, who also happens to have a few screws loose?"
"Fall for him?" Kyoko scoffed. "What nonsense!"
"So these chocolates aren't for the Beagle?"
"It's none of your damned business who these are for!" She held his lethal gaze without flinching.
"Don't dodge the question!"
"Yes! They're for the Beagle! Happy now? How the hell did you even know about this? No one was supposed to find out!"
"Does that even matter? What I like to know is how did you turn from being scared to death of him to giving him chocolates on Valentine's Day?"
"I... I have my reasons!" As Kyoko was saying, they were interrupted by a couple of squeaky footsteps which happened to belong to the lead singer Reino and the drummer Miroku of the Vie Ghouls.
"Kyoko," Reino smirked. "I see you have my chocolate ready. Is that why you called me here?"
Sho, paying no attention to either of the two new comers, turned back to Kyoko. "What reasons?"
"Why should I tell you?" She also ignored the Vie Ghouls and shouted back to Sho.
"Whatever the reasons may be, this is what you are reduced to now? Making chocolates for this bastard!"
"Do you even hear yourself? I only– why am I even doing this? Nevermind! I'm not obligated to explain anything to you!"
"You're only saying that because you don't have the guts to admit what's really going on between you two!"
"What the hell? What's that supposed to mean?"
Reino, quietly observing the two of them had heard enough to know what Sho was implying. So he decided to add fuel to the flames.
"Kyoko, it's no use trying to hide it." The vocalist of the Vie Ghouls winked at her. "I think Fuwa knows what's going on between us."
Kyoko cocked her head at Reino in confusion. She interprated from his words that Sho knew about their deal in which she was supposed to make chocolates for him in return for him leaving her alone, not understand what Reino was actually insinuating.
After listening to Reino, Sho turned to Kyoko to find the truth of the matter, but instead of hearing her object as he had expected, she asked, "you really know about it?"
What Sho didn't get was that despite how it sounded Kyoko was still talking about the deal she had made with Reino, and not admitting to being in a relationship with him.
"How despicable!" Sho snapped. His anger reaching a whole new level. "You forgot about everything he did to you? Are you that desperate?" His judgemental eyes were dripping with scorn and hatred.
Kyoko snorted. "Oh you say it like I knew this would happen." Neither of them had any idea that they were talking about two entirely separate subjects. Kyoko assumed that Sho was referring to the deal she made with Reino, while Sho was thinking that Kyoko was admitting to being committed to Reino.
"It's only happening because you let it happen!"
"Don't act like it's not your fault! The only reason I'm in this mess is because you're the one who made me this way, when you broke my heart into pieces!"
Sho opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again for the lack of words. Before he could come up with anything to say, they heard the clickety-clack of approaching heels as Shouko appeared. She was genuinely surprised to see Kyoko and two members of the Vie Ghouls with Sho. Deja Vu struck her as she remembered the last time she had seen all of them in the same room, outside the baths in Karuizawa.
"Sho," she held his arm and tried to drag him away. "We should get going."
But Sho didn't budge an inch from his spot. His face darkened as he glared at Kyoko from eyes filled with loathing. At last he said, "I was wrong to think that you were different now. You are still the same. One of those dumb, silly, obsessive girls who've got nothing but love in their tiny minds." He turned and marched out, followed by Shouko, who passed Kyoko an apologetic glance before leaving.
Miroku laughed aloud after Sho had left. "He totally misunderstood the situation. Your win, man!" He said, playfully punching Reino's arm who smirked in response. "But I still don't get one thing. We're returning to New York in two days anyway. So why're you going through all this trouble to get chocolates from this girl?"
"It's my way of having fun," Reino answered with his devilish grin.
Kyoko couldn't hear a word of this conversation since she had frozen on her spot after listening to Sho's nerve striking harsh remarks. How dare you, Shoutaro! She minced her teeth, barely holding herself from screaming out loud.
"Kyoko," Reino stepped forward, snapping her out of her vengeful reverie. "So why did you come here?"
She thrust the now mishaped box of chocolates into his hands. "Here! We're done! Now stop bothering me!"
"I can't accept this."
"What?" She shouted.
"Not right now I mean. It's not Valentine's Day yet." He returned the box to her. "I only came here because you called me. Give these to me tomorrow."
Kyoko was so frustrated that she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from shrieking at him. Clenching her fists, she took a few deep breaths before she was calm enough to speak again. "So you want these tomorrow?"
"Yeah."
"Alright. I got Dark Moon shoot all day tomorrow. You can just come to the set and pick these up." A sweet and innocent smile stretched on her lips. "As long as you don't mind that Ren Tsuruga will be there."
Groaning aloud, Kyoko jumped down on her small cozy bed. "Arrgh! I'm so tired!"
She had come straight home after her interview, but she was still utterly exhausted, the main reason being those two idiots who had hounded her back at the station.
At least now she had one less thing to worry about since Reino was out of the picture. Judging from the way he instantly accepted the chocolates without a complaint and then took off at the mere mention of Ren's name, she had a good feeling that he wouldn't bother her again.
But there was still Sho. She wished she would stop running into him, but it was impossible to avoid as long as they were both in the industry.
A knock on her bedroom door interrupted her thoughts. It was Mrs Taisho.
"Kyoko, are you up dear?" the elderly woman entered her small bedroom, carrying something large in her hands. "A package arrived for you this morning."
"It's here?" Kyoko was instantly up and on her feet. She took the package from Mrs Taisho and smiled. Ren's present had finally arrived.
As much as she hated Valentine's Day, she now had a reason to look forward to tomorrow.
Sleep was a rare luxury which Sho couldn't afford. He kept yawning all night long but it barely came to him. At last he gave up trying when it was almost dawn.
How could he even think of sleeping when his mind was busy imagining the most disturbing images it could come up with involving Reino and Kyoko.
Sho wondered what on earth made Kyoko except that creep in the first place.
He recalled his earlier conversation with Shouko on the subject. His manager couldn't believe it either that Kyoko would ever go out with her stalker. After some careful pondering, she could come up with the only reasonable explanation according to which, it was all an act on Kyoko's part who was trying to get under Sho's skin.
Shouko suggestion to counter that had been for him to congratulate Kyoko by giving her flowers, regardless of his feelings so she could see that this news didn't faze him at all.
At first, Sho was clearly against the idea but the more he thought about it the more it made sense.
The most unsettling thing was how much it did faze him. As he reflected on it, he couldn't help but wonder why it was so unbearable for him to watch Kyoko with someone else. He couldn't exactly call it love. It wasn't anything so cheesy as that. He was pretty sure he hadn't been falling for her, so the question remained why she still care.
A long time had passed before the answer suddenly struck him, and when it did, he finally made his decision on how to deal with this.
The next morning, almost every person on the Dark Moon set had big smile stuck to their faces. It was Valentine's Day after all. The air was thick with love.
The only exception was Ren Tsuruga. Despite his manager's constant attempts to tease him, he had managed to not get his hopes high when it came to getting chocolates from the girl he loved.
Not long after, Kyoko stepped out from her dressing room. Wearing a dark brown vintage skirt and shirt. She was already in her Mio look. Her head was covered by her wig of short dark hair.
"Good morning," Ren greeted her, before he inquired why she was so early today, that he didn't even see her enter. He himself had just arrived but she was already in costume and makeup.
Instead of answering him, Kyoko went back inside her dressing room and came out with a carry bag.
Yashiro could see that her cheeks were slightly flustered. He wondered if that had anything to do with the fact that it was Valentine's Day.
Reaching into it, she pulled out a large gift-wrapped package. "Here." Her cheeks were getting redder by the second as she handed it to Ren. "Happy belated birthday."
Something tugged in Ren's chest, and he smiled, displaying only a small fraction of his inner felicity and the affections he had for this girl. "Thank you. I'm really touched." Colour suffused his cheeks and the tips of his ears. "Should I open it?"
"No! Don't!"
He exchanged a confused glance with his manager before turning back to Kyoko. This was not the reaction he had been expecting from her.
"There are a lot of people here," she explained. "Please open it only when you're alone. I couldn't decide at first what to give you and it took me a lot of courage to get you this, but I cant let anyone else see it or I'll just drop dead from embarrassment," she babbled on and on with her face highly flushed. "Please tell me you'll not open this in front of anyone."
"Alright," Ren chuckled at her dramatic overreaction but agreed nonetheless, to Yashiro's disappointment. The poor manager was dying from curiosity.
"Kyoko, what else do you have there?" Remembering about the Valentine's chocolates, Yashiro asked hopefully pointing at her carrybag.
"Oh, they're chocolates." Kyoko confirmed his suspicions. "Which reminds me," reaching into her back she pulled out a small, red box and handed it to the manager. "Here you go. These are for you."
"M-me?" Yashiro couldn't hide his shock as he glanced at Ren from the corner of his eyes.
"Yeah. You've helped me a lot."
"But don't you think that there're other people who deserve this more? I'm grateful and all, but if we're talking about people who've looked out for you, shouldn't you be giving it to them first?" His discomfort growing, the manager kept glancing at Ren but his client's face remained impassive. Like a cold brick wall. Yashiro shuddered.
Kyoko, finally understanding Yashiro's point, admitted, "you are right!" She pulled out another similar box. "How can I be so careless? I'll go and give some to Director Ogata right now!"
"That's not what I meant...!" Yashiro was saying but Kyoko had already scurried away.
The managers slowly turned back to face Ren wondering why Kyoko would deliberately leave him out him. And there it was, what he had been expecting to see and dreading at the same time. The cold, perfect signature smile of his spread on his face. Yashiro gulped. For the first time, he regretted constantly reminding Ren about Kyoko's Valentine chocolates.
Before he could decide what to say, Ren's smile suddenly disappeared, only to be replaced by shock as he fixated his eyes on something behind him. Yashiro turned as well to follow his client's gaze all the way back towards the entrance, where the most unexpected visitor was standing. The manager was equally, if not more, flabbergasted to see him there. It was Sho Fuwa.
His casual yet fresh denim jeans and white jacket suggested that he must have stopped here on his way to work, but the most unusual thing about him was what he was holding. It was a gigantic bouquet of flowers which was so big that Sho had to use both his hands and also his shoulder to carry it. Judging from the decorative beads, glitters and gold ribbons around the colourful Moth Orchids, it wasn't cheap or inexpensive either.
There were not more then a dozen people on set at that time since it was still early, yet as more and more crew members noticed Sho's presence, the set got quietet until it was completely serene and still.
Sho's eyes wandered around until they landed on Kyoko standing in a corner with Director Ogata, Airi and Itsumi. Without even bothering to glance at the others, he made his way towards her.
Kyoko was too dumbfounded to react, as she stood there frozen on her spot with her jaw hanging from her mouth.
"You're making a really stupid face." Sho remarked, stopping in front of her, ignoring all the curious eyes upon him.
Kyoko finally found her voice back. "What the hell are you doing here?" She shifted her eyes to the unnecessarily large bouquet in his hands. "Are you becoming a part-time florist?"
He held the flowers out to her. "How do they look?"
Kyoko would've snapped something bitter in response but as her eyes settled on the flowers, a small gasp escaped her lips. Now that she had a closer look at the bouquet, she realized how breathtaking it really looked. There was silver glitter on each petal of the flowers with sparkling beads and freshwater pearls around the colourful orchids.
She didn't need to answer Sho, because it was already evident in her hazel eyes how much she liked them. In fact, Kyoko wasn't the only one, Airi and Itsumi also admiring get with wide eyes.
Sho tossed the bouquet to Kyoko, who had no choice but to catch it. "What the- why are you giving this to me?"
"Because I bought it for you," he answered simply. "Congratulations."
Ren and Yashiro exchanged a mystified glance before turning back. This was the last thing they had been expecting to hear from Sho.
"For what exactly? Kyoko was just as confused.
"Since we've known each other from such a young age, I'm probably the only one to know about your dating life or the lack of it," he smirked. "Don't worry. I'm only here to congratulate you as a life long friend since you're going out with the vocalist of Vie Ghouls."
That evoked huge gasps from the crowd, followed by low murmuring. The ones who were most surprised were the select few people who knew about Reino's scandalous involvement in the Karuizawa incident which involved Ogata, Yashiro and Ren.
The manager and the Director had shaken their heads in disbelief, but Ren looked like he couldn't even process what he was listening.
Kyoko!" Airi and Itsumi were at her sides. "Are you really going out with the vocalist of VG?" Both girls, like the majority of the crew were impressed.
"I'm not going out with anybody!" Kyoko spat angrily to Sho. "What on earth is up with you? You've been spitting nonsensical crap since yesterday!"
Show replied to her question with another question. "Then how come you were giving him chocolate yesterday?"
"He basically forced me into it! He said if I didn't give him any chocolates for Valentine's Day, he start stalking me again!" In the heat of the moment, Kyoko shouted it out loudly, but only when the words were out of her mouth did she realise that they had an audience catching their each and every word.
Kyoko would've been scared about admitting giving chocolates to Reino in front of almost a dozen people from the crew if her mind wasn't suddenly consumed with panic when she finally realised that Ren was also there, listening along with everyone else. She didn't care what anyone thought, except for him.
Only imagine what he would have in store for her about her giving chocolates to her stalker, it was enough to make her blood run cold with fear. She shuddered, not daring to make his eyes.
Grabbing Sho's arm, she dragged him to the corner where they could have some privacy. First of all, she needed to get rid of him.
As the two of them had moved to talk in a secluded corner, the others couldn't hear what they were speaking anymore, but they could still see them talking.
Ogata clapped his hands twice and told everyone to go back to work, yet a lot of eyes remains fixated on the two of them, including Ren's and Yashiro's.
They could still see Sho and Kyoko talking inaudibly to each other. In the middle of their conversation, both of them glanced at Ren before turning back.
This didn't discourage Ren to keep looking at them. A decision he would later thoroughly regret because what he saw next was as painful as a stake being plunged into his heart, when all of a sudden, Sho grabbed Kyoko by the collar of her shirt and pulled her closer until their lips were crushed against each other, locked into a kiss.
