A/N: Thank you reviewers, favoriters, and alerters! loll. You are all very wonderful!
Maria
Ren stared off into space, his palm resting in his chin. "I want an acting ability that is equal to yours. I want an acting ability that is equal to yours. I want an acting ability that is equal to yours." The words echoed in his mind and seemed to be bouncing off of each other, causing a warm sensation to spread through his heart. 'I am her goal in acting, something she's doing for herself. What does that mean? She respects me. That's for sure. But what else? She was blushing and looking at me earlier when talking about the best thing that ever happened to her. What was she thinking about? When I kissed her?' The thought made him laugh softly. 'Was it her first kiss?' This made him happier than it should have, and he shook his head with a chuckle. 'She'd be furious if she knew I was thinking about it. But I can't help but wonder…is she starting to feeling anything for me?'
"You ready?" He jerked back to awareness and stared up at his grinning manager. "What are you thinking about?" He asked with a smirk.
"Hm. Nothing."
"Oh please. You have your 'Kyoko' face on." Ren rolled his eyes and stood. They were waiting for the director to okay the last scene for Ring Doh. Ruriko, along with her manager and Kyoko, had already left after saying goodbye. Kyoko was now walking with a crutch and had a cast on her leg, which, she hoped, would be removed soon. Ren hoped that she would be careful and resist whatever urges she had to perform in more tea ceremonies for a while.
"My 'Kyoko' face?" He asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to know.
"Yes. The face you make while daydreaming about Kyoko." His manager told him while making an exaggerated mooning face. Ren grunted and followed his manager to say goodbye to the director, then they headed out to his car to drive back to Tokyo.
Kyoko limped into the kitchen of the Darumaya in the evening and flinched at the stunned faces of the Okami-san and Taisho. "Kyoko-chan! What happened!" The Okami-san cried, racing to her side. Taisho sat down his knives and walked over as well, hovering over her.
"Um…I fell and injured my leg." She told them with a sheepish smile. The Okami-san forced her into a chair and ran to get her tea. The Taisho crossed his arms and stared down at her.
"You fell?" He grunted, obviously not believing her.
"Mm. I was walking to the set on location and fell. I was on it for a while before I was able to go to the hospital so it kind of got worse…" She told him with a smile, hoping he didn't see through the half lie. He grunted but stepped aside when the Okami-san brought her a cup of tea.
"Kyoko-chan! You have to be more careful." The Okami-san scolded her gently. "Are you going to be able to work?"
"Oh yes! I can still walk on it with a crutch. And the cast can come off in a few weeks. I don't have any acting jobs anyway." She told them sadly. She had hoped to get the job on Ring Doh's, but looking back she realized that it would have been impossible with her injury. She sipped the tea and wondered how the filming had gone. For a moment, she considered calling Tsuruga-san. 'No. He's probably busy…besides I troubled him so much on set that he might be irritated with me. I'll just leave him alone.' The thought made her sadder than she was expecting, and she pushed it from her mind.
For a couple of days, she managed to push the man from her mind altogether. The President had been made aware of her condition and the incident on the set of Ring Doh, so he cut back her hours to give her more time to rest. When Kanae spotted her limping around in the Love Me room, she had exploded. "What happened to you!" She snapped irritably. "You came in late, and you're wearing a cast! Mo! What kind of stupid trouble have you gotten yourself in now!" She cried. Kyoko turned and her eyes lit up.
"Moko-san!" She cried, limping over at an inhuman speed and throwing her arms around her 'best friend.'
"MO! Get off!" She started to shove her away, but hesitated, not wanting to hurt her. "Just tell me what happened."
"Oh. I fell on set while doing a Love Me assignment. It's just a fracture."
"How did you fall?" Kanae wondered, sitting on one of the benches. She had just completed an assignment and didn't have other plans at the moment. Kyoko had just arrived and hadn't yet been given any assignments. She sat down beside her friend and looked at the floor.
"Well, uh, I was walking uphill and just fell." Kanae's eyes narrowed.
"You're lying." She glared at the girl. "Mo Kyoko. You're the one who insists that we are best friends. If you can't even tell me the truth about how you fell, then we aren't friends." She snapped, jumping to her feet.
"No! Moko-san! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to lie to you! I'll tell you everything! Please don't leave me!" She cried throwing herself onto the floor and grabbing Kanae's legs.
"MO! What is the matter with you! You are in a cast! Get up!" She cried incredulously, hauling her up and all but throwing her onto the bench.
"Sorry Moko-san." The girl apologized sheepishly.
"Now, what really happened?"
Kyoko proceeded to tell her about the events from the previous week and was surprised at the anger in Kanae's eyes. "Ruriko? I haven't even heard of her." She snapped. "But she acts like a spoiled brat." She should get in trouble for acting like that. Stars can't just go around behaving however they want because they're famous."
"Well, she did seem nicer when I spoke to her before we left. She gave me a hundred points." She opened the book proudly. "She said that I did a good job as her assistant and put all of my effort into working for her." She smiled brightly, but Kanae took the book and read the little heart shaped page with a frown.
"Kyoko, this says, 'From Tsuruga Ren. For putting 100% of your effort into your acting test. Great job, keep up the good work.' Kyoko's jaw hit the floor and she grabbed the book. "Don't you even read this thing?"
"How..how did he get my book?" She muttered, reading over his perfect handwriting. The little pink stamp informed her that he had given her 100 points plus another 10-points. "Why?"
"Can't you read? Because you did a good job." Kanae shrugged. "I've heard that Ren Tsuruga is a really nice man. Besides, maybe he likes you." Kyoko froze. "I mean, he is especially nice to you from what I've seen. Has he even given any special indication that he was interested in you…apart from giving you points?"
"Moko-san! Tsuruga-san is not interested in me! Even if he were, and he's not, he wouldn't give me points because of it! He's a professional." The memory of his lips pressed against hers resurfaces, but she shoved it back down. She managed to fool Kanae, who only shrugged.
"Whatever. It's none of my business." 'Poor guy. I almost feel sorry for him.'
It was another few days before Kyoko ran into Ren again. This time she was in the actor's school. She had been asked to help the director of the school with some paperwork, but had paused to watch an acting class on her way to turn in the paper. He turned the corner, looking for a quiet room to study his script, and found her staring longingly into the room. He smiled softly and walked over to her, touching her shoulder. She jumped with an 'eep' and whirled around, somehow balancing herself on the crutch, but managed to drop most of her paperwork. "Tsuruga-san! Hello…." She looked down. "Crap!" She started to grab the papers but Ren had already gathered most of them.
"Hello, Mogami-san." He chuckled and straightened, handing her the papers. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm find…thank you." She told him shyly, placing the papers back in the folder. 'Why do I think of him kissing me every time I see him!' She tried to control the slight blush on her cheeks and smiled up at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Just trying to find a place to go over this script." He held it up and she read it.
"Dark Moon?" She frowned. "I thought you were…" She froze and smacked a hand over her mouth. "Um…no longer working…with…" He laughed.
"It's okay, Mogami-san. I was fired from the set." She nodded and took the offered script. "But I got the part of Katsuki."
"Oh. Um…when does it start filming?"
"Well, the director has been having some health problems, and he's been having a hard time trying to find an actress to play Mio to his satisfaction, so not for at least a few weeks. He's in the hospital now."
"Oh." She said sadly, reading the character description for Mio. He waited for her to finish, then watched as she turned her attention back to the students in the classroom. "Hopefully they won't cancel the show."
He nodded. "Mogami-san…why don't you join the acting school?" He asked her quietly. She looked up in surprise.
"Huh? I can't…I mean…I could never afford that." She told him sadly. He nodded, understanding.
"Could you pay in installments?"
"I don't know. I guess I could talk to the President…"
"I would. It would help your acting skills if you got some real instruction. You might be able to land some roles and get your name out." She smiled and thanked him for the advice, then realized that she had never asked him about the stamp book.
"Tsuruga-san, why did you give me points in my Love Me notebook?" She wondered.
"Didn't you read the note?" He asked, amused.
"Um…yes. But I still don't understand. I wasn't helping you."
"Hm. Maybe not intentionally. But you did inspire Ruriko-chan to act seriously, and helped to change her attitude towards acting, which did help me to act with her. And you put all of your effort into that scene with me, like a true professional, despite your injury. So, I think you deserved the points." She blushed a little, then thanked him.
"Well, I'd better get this paperwork to the director. I'll see you later." She bowed as best as she could with the crutch, and he bid her farewell.
A week and a half later, the doctor removed her cast and wrapped her leg in a bandage, with instructions to try and stay off of it as much as possible, and to take it easy. She was able to walk almost normally, and immediately got back to both of her jobs. It had been two days since she got her cast off when the President called her. He asked her to join him at the LME acting school, along with Kotonami-san, in order to help him with a problem he was having as a Love Me Assignment.
The President had heard all about Kyoko's relationship with Ren, and he had heard how she changed Ruriko-chan's attitude toward acting and her career. He leaned back in his chair and lit a cigar. 'If that girl can have a similar affect on Maria…then I'll really owe her one. Kyoko arrived and he motioned for them to sit down. After inquiring about her work, and her leg, he began explaining the situation about his granddaughter. "She won't listen to anyone about this, Mogami-san, not even Ren. I heard about how you dealt with Ruriko-chan, and I was hoping that you would be willing to give this a try. I think it has something to do with this play." He handed her the script and Kyoko skimmed it, then listened to his explanation about the little girl's mother. Remembering her situation with her own mother, she sighed.
"Of course I'll help, President. But…um, if I can do this…I…could you grant a request?" He placed his head in the palm of his hand and began to listen.
Kanae sat outside in the lobby, wondering why she hadn't been invited to talk to the President with Kyoko. 'Not that I care.' She thought irritably.
"What the heck?" She looked up at the amused voice.
"Good heavens. Look at that outfit. What is the matter with her?"
"Is she an idiot?" Kanae gritted her teeth and crossed her arms, focusing on the pleading look on her friend's face.
'Please Moko-san! We're a team, so we both have to dress the same.' She rolled her eyes, cursing herself for agreeing.
Kyoko walked with the President. "Not only will I cut down the fee, I'll waive the entire thing." He told her with a smile. "If you can just open her heart." Kyoko smiled brightly and found herself being hugged by Kanae. In shock, she looked over at her friend.
"President, just leave it to the Love Me section." Kyoko noticed a group of irritated girls standing nearby and wondered what her friend had been up to.
Kyoko pulled her bag onto her shoulder and strolled through the halls of the LME acting school with her best friend, both on the lookout for the little girl. When she stopped, Kanae, turned to her, watching as Kyoko reached a hand into her purse. "Kyoko…are those dolls?" She asked quietly, obviously a little confused and the girl began pulling them out.
"Um…yes." She said sheepishly, shifting the bag to her other shoulder.
"Why…did you bring dolls?" She asked.
"Well the President told me when I saw him earlier that Maria liked Tsuruga-san…so I thought she might like these…and that we could draw her out." She knelt on the floor and dumped out the dolls. There were three of Ren, one in a white suit, one in his normal outfit, and one in hiking gear, and three of Sho, one cockroach, one where he was obviously crying, and another one that seemed to have been set on fire.
"Oh my God." She picked up the Ren doll in the white suit. "Why did you make such a detailed voodoo doll of Tsuruga Ren!" She cried.
"Um…"
"Oh! If there were only a strand of Ren-sama's hair! It would be perfect!" A small girl in a pig's mask suddenly materialized, picking up the Ren doll and hugging it. "These are so awesome!"
"Hehe. Really? You like them?" Kanae stared at Kyoko, then the little girl, shaking her head.
'What is the matter with these two?'
"A standard voodoo doll would be at least 1,500 yen, right? And then there are the added costs of incense and oils, so they are very high. I had no choice but to make my own."
"Oh! But these handmade ones are much better!" The girl pulled off her pig mask and clasped her hands in delight. "There are none like them in the entire world, making them much more precious! Plus, your determination and emotions have rubbed off on the doll!"
'I don't understand anything they are talking about.' Kanae thought irritably, giving up on listening.
"Will…will you give me your dolls?" She suddenly asked softly, jumping down from her seat and placing her hands on Kyoko's legs.
"Um…why?" She asked the little girl.
"So that Ren-sama will be my prisoner! And I can put a spell on his dolls!"
"Eh….Maria-chan…wouldn't a beeswax doll be more effective?" She asked nervously.
"No." She told her coldly. "It doesn't work. My power…it isn't strong enough." Kyoko looked at the girl in shock. "Please…lend me your power."
"Maria." The booming voice made both girls jump and stare up into the stern face of President Takarada.
"Hello Grandfather."
"Maria. I want you to apologize to all the people you have troubled." Kanae glanced over at the group of girls she had showed up earlier, all of whom seemed irritated with them. Kanae rolled her eyes, smirking a little at the memory of their faces from when she had acted out the play, single handedly.
"Why should I apologize?" The child asked stubbornly. "Are you really going to put on such an immature, childish play? It's an embarrassment." The students all stared at the girl in shock.
"Maria!" The President scolded.
"It's true! The main character was responsible for the death of her mother! It is unrealistic that everyone would love her again, especially her father. Even a child like me can see that this play is total rubbish."
The President sighed and his eyes softened. "Maria…" He was interrupted by quiet clapping. Turning, he and Kanae stared at Kyoko in astonishment.
"You understand me!" Maria cried in delight.
"Mm. I read the play as well, and thought the behavior of the big sister was unrealistic. Her beloved mother died, but she doesn't blame her sister at all, and she even goes so far as to scold their father. It isn't true to human nature."
"Then you act it out!" The group looked up in surprise at the students glaring down at Kyoko. "However, the main character must understand, though the big sister, that her father doesn't hate her, with the modification that the older sister blames the younger sister." Kyoko's moth dropped open.
'What! That character…isn't in the script! How am I supposed to…'
"You're not going to back out, are you? Especially after seeing your partners excellent acting skills?" Kanae flinched a little, although she was glad they were praising her.
'Sorry Kyoko…I think I might have just gotten you in trouble.' Kanae sighed.
"What are you doing!" Kanae stared down at Kyoko, whom she had found working on her dolls. "You only have an hour left!"
"Moko-san, I'm not a script writer." She told her as if it were obvious. "I don't have any idea of what lines are convincing. Kanae's jaw dropped.
"Then why did you argue with them!" She cried. "Mo. In acting can't you just follow the script?"
Kyoko's eyes widened. 'Follow the script.'
The girl's approached the set and spotted Takarada-san and Maria sitting in chairs on the side, obviously excited. Kanae joined them on the sidelines and Kyoko took her place. A young girl walked past her, but paused. "How envious. To be able to buy your dream with money. Your parents must really love you." Kyoko froze, her eyes widening. Another girl smirked.
"Yea. What a big difference from the small allowance our parents send us. What a fortunate person." Kyoko felt darkness surround her and pain bloomed in her heart. Closing her eyes, she tried to think about her character, but the words kept repeating in her mind. 'Your parents must really love you.' The others began, and she listened to them reassure the little girl.
"For parents to hate their own children…that can't happen in real life." Kyoko smirked a little, and a laugh escaped. Giggles forced their way up from her throat and escaped, and she wrapped her hand around her stomach. There was a stunned silence.
"Ah. Nothing really." She smirked. "I've heard the same thing so many times, and just couldn't help it. Heh." She grinned up at the others. "Angel, you are a smart child. "Before you heard the others talking, you already knew, right?"
"Flora…?"
"Father is human too, and he must loose his temper sometimes. Unfortunately, he may say things to hurt people on purpose. You understand, that even parents can hate their own children." There was a scary conviction in her eyes, and realization hit the President. He sat up in surprise and stared at the girl. "It's true. Father hates you. He doesn't love you, at all."
"Liar!" She jumped a little at the girl's response, but smiled.
"Liar? What makes you say that?"
The President and Maria stared in wonder as the two girls switched the lines, and smiled a little to himself. Maria felt tears fall down her face as she listened, and found herself remembering her own father. "Thant kind of letter only takes a few seconds, since he can just copy what he says before. I don't think he really takes it seriously." Unable to take the weight of the pain, Maria jumped up.
"That's not true!" She screamed. "Sure, he always emails me the same things, starts with the same lines, but he emails me every morning and every night!" After recovering a little, Kyoko smirked.
"So what? Even if it's two emails a day, aren't they just the same? He even saves on effort."
"He…he emails me and has to match it up with Japan's time! That's hard!"
"So. Maybe someone else sends it." Kyoko said with her arms crossed.
"NO! Father would never let anyone near his computer!"
"What do you know about Father!" Kyoko cried. "When have you ever talked to father!" Maria froze for a second. "How do you really know how father feels about you?"
"I…I do understand! Because, in the last line of all his emails, he types, 'I love you!" She cried, tears falling down her face. Kyoko's walked over to the now kneeling girl and crouched down. She softened her eyes and smiled gently at the little girl, stroking her face.
"There. You see? You have your answer."
"You're going to pay anyway!" Maria cried. She sat next to her grandfather and across from the Love Me girls in the limo.
"Hehe. Yea. The others were upset that I finished the scene with you."
"I…I'm sorry."
Kyoko laughed. "Don't worry about it. I'll just pay it in installments. Besides, don't you have to write to your father?"
"Um…not yet. I don't know what to write." The girl mumbled.
"Why don't you just call him?" Kyoko laughed, missing the soft expression on the President's face.
'Wow. I really have to hand it to her. She really did it, even though she's just an amateur. She's going to become someone whose power exceeds my expectations.
The four stepped out of the limo at LME, and Maria tugged Kyoko's sleeve. "Can I ask you for advice, Onee-sama?"
'Onee-sama…me?" Kyoko looked down in surprise, then nodded.
"Sure Maria-chan."
"What do you and your father talk about?" The President looked over curiously, then caught the pained smile on Kyoko's face.
"I'm sorry Maria-chan. I don't have a father…so…I don't know."
"Oh! I'm so sorry!"
"Hehe. It's okay."
"Um...so what about your mother?" At this, Kyoko stopped walking. After a moment, she took a deep breath.
"Maria-chan, why don't you just tell your father that you want to see him?"
The President listened sadly as Kyoko assured Maria that her father would be safe. 'This girl…she obviously has a bad relationship with her mother, if any at all, and no father. Moreover, when she was acting, the expression on her face when she said that even parents hate their own children…what sort of life has she led?'
Ren paused in the hallway. He hadn't planned on staying so late, but one of his shoots ran over, then he realized that he had left one of his scripts in his office at LME. He had dropped Yashiro off, hurried back to his office, then started to leave. He opted for the stairs, but froze when he heard mumbling. "I'm okay. It's okay. It's totally fine. I'm fine." He took a few more steps and peered down. A young orange haired girl was sitting on the stairs, clutching something to her chest and bending over it. He quietly walked down the stairs and sat next to her. She stiffened as soon as she felt his body near hers, but didn't look up. He placed an arm around her and squeezed a little.
"Hey." He greeted softly. "You okay?" She obviously wasn't, but wasn't sure what else to say. She sniffed softly and nodded. He figured that she was holding the stone he had given her, and held both of her hands with one of his. Pulling her gently, he leaned her against him.
'Your parents must really love you.' The words were like a stake through her heard, and she sobbed softly. The arm around her now only made it more painful. 'Even parents can hate their children.' Each word hurt worse than the last. Her shoulders shook and she bit her lip to keep quiet. Sensing her plain, he leaned in a little closer.
"It's okay. No one can hear you. You can cry if you want to." She looked up at him for the first time, her eyes red, and sniffed.
'You can cry….no one's has ever said that to me before.' She thought, remembering the way Sho had always just stared at her when she cried. Leaning against him, she sobbed while he rubbed her back and whispered that everything would be okay, all the while wishing that he could tell her how much he loved her.
A/N: So, every once in a while people comment that it is strange that I use single quotes for thoughts. Is that weird? Most of the books i read follow this format, so i thought it was normal. Just curious. Anyway, thank you for reading. Please let me know what you think. *bows*
