A/N: Taking a break from studying…not really a good idea but I need stress relief. Got a lot of homework done, but it keeps coming, so wish me luck!
The Wolf and the Woodsman
"They couldn't be talking about Kyoko, could they?" Ren's ears perked up and he glanced over from under his cap, turning the page of his magazine.
"What? Who?"
"This article published a reader entry who was praising Sho Fuwa's PV. It mentioned Mimori from Akatoki, and Kyoko, from LME."
"Kyoko…."
"No last name."
"Hmm…never heard of her."
"What! Never? Didn't you see Fuwa's PV? She's the angel that kills him."
"Oh…wonder what she looks like in real life."
"She's cute. Short orange hair, big golden eyes…" Ren's eyes narrowed and he took a deep breath as he pretended to read, hoping Yashiro couldn't hear.
"What…do you like her or something?"
"Well…I looked her up online." Ren clenched his jaw, then forced himself to relax. 'Don't get jealous, don't get jealous, don't...'
"Did you hear that?" Yashiro mumbled, an evil smile on his face. Ren rolled his eyes.
"Hear what?" He asked quietly, turning the page again and hoping that Yashiro wouldn't ask what the article he was 'reading' was about.
"That guy likes Kyoko."
"So?"
Yashiro sighed loudly. "What is wrong with you? She's your…" He dropped his voice to a whisper. "girlfriend, isn't she?"
"She is." He turned a page. "She's also an actress. Guys are bound to like her."
"But…" He spluttered for a second. "She…what about…don't you…." He rolled he eyes and gave up, crossing his arms, a pout on his face, and Ren smirked.
"Yashiro, I'm not going to get jealous because some random guys like my girlfriend. She's an actress, and it is good that she has fans." Yashiro sighed and crossed his arms.
"Wood stick?" Kyoko cocked her head, staring at Momose-san as they strolled toward the hotel. The warm breeze coupled with the chirping birds and the gurgling of the stream nearby had recharged her, and she somehow managed to do an impression of a drummer. Momose-san giggled.
"Yes. It literally translates to wood stick. A foreign musician used it once and now a lot of foreign stars come."
"But…you're a celebrity. Why does it matter if you meet other celebrities?" Kyoko wondered with a tilt of her head as they continued walking.
She laughed. "It's because we're in different fields. As actresses, we don't often get to meet musicians, or foreign stars. Even someone like Tsuruga-san is really far above us." Kyoko smiled weakly, wondering if Momose-san knew about her and Ren.
Momose-san seemed about to say something else when she stopped in surprise. "What is…" Kyoko glanced back and her eyes widened.
Shoko looked up from her magazine when the door clicked. Expecting Sho to finally wander back in to do his job, her mouth dropped when a young woman with sort black hair marched in, dragging her charge by the scruff of his neck. "Sho!" She cried.
"Shoko-san, I brought this lazy bum back to you." She shook him irritably and Sho pouted, his arms crossed.
"Ky…Kyoko-chan…why are you here?"
"We're shooting for Dark Moon on location. I was going to relax with another actress when I ran into this."
"Sho, you can't just wander off! You had all of us worried!" Sho rolled his eyes. "Where were you?"
"I was just walking…."
"Don't believe him. He was probably on his way back to the hotel to drink beer, drink more while taking a bath, and then watch comedy shows." Kyoko cut in bluntly.
"Hey! I never said that!" Kyoko rolled her eyes and released his collar. Shoko smothered a giggle at his sullen face, but quickly composed herself.
"What's wrong with you! Just because recording isn't going well, you run away? That's so typical of you. If you needed a change of pace, you could have done it around here. This is why those Beagles are tripping you up!" Sho froze and stared down at her, eyes wide. "Sho?" She took a hesitant step back, wondering if he was planning on hitting her again. 'Crap! I wasn't even supposed to be near him again…Ren will be angry.' "Shotaro?" He turned to look down at her, eyes still huge, then rushed to the corner, collapsing. His whole body shook with muffled laughed and Kyoko rolled her eyes.
"Wow. He really liked that joke." Shoko commented a little nervously. Kyoko made no comment.
'What joke?' She turned to go. "Well, good luck with him Shoko-san."
"Oh. Um…thanks for cheering him up. Bye Kyoko-chan." She watched the girl with a strange expression. 'I thought for a second that she…liked him. Why is she acting this way now?'
'Ooh. Look at all the instruments.' Kyoko smiled as she leaned toward the window display, looking at the guitars from different eras. Forcibly turning her thoughts from Sho, she let them wander to Ren. 'I wonder how his shoot it going. I really want to call him…but he's probably busy. Besides, I don't want to tell him about Sho…though he did tell me to call…' Her face went pale and she dropped behind the display. 'The Beagles!' Her hand went to her cellphone, but she stopped. 'What am I doing? I can't call Ren, who's in Okinawa, because the band happens to be here.' She looked a little closer. 'That would just upset him. I wonder what they're doing here.' Suddenly she felt a chill and looked up. The familiar dark purple eyes were boring deep into her own, and she jerked away, running toward the hotel. 'CRAP!' She glanced back from the corner, as if waiting for him to emerge, but neither him nor whatever strange powers he seemed to have followed her. Sighing, she headed back to the relative safety of her hotel.
Kyoko wrapped the gown around herself and stepped out of the door. "Excuse me, Shoko-san! I'm going to head back to my room." She started to walk toward the elevator and froze. Sho was staring at her strangely, and across from him stood Vie Ghoul.
"Hm. We meet again." She turned toward Reino with an innocent expression.
'Can't let him know that he gets to me. I'm not afraid. We're in public. He can't do anything to me.' Ignoring Sho's questioning expression, she smiled a little in confusion. "What? We haven't met."
"Heh. No. But our eyes did." Kyoko's throat was instantly dry, and she attempted to swallow. "I like that expression. You're on alert, and combined with the wet hair…" His hand reached up and slid his fingers along a piece of her hair, ringing out the water drops. "And in a yutaka…it's erotic."
Suddenly there was a sharp pain in her head. "SWITCH ON!"
"Ow!" She jerked away from the Beagle and from Sho. "What are you doing?"
"You were in a trance from that idiots praise! I turned your brain on!"
"I was not in a trance!" She cried. "And when was he prainsing me?"
"You aren't used to being praised by guys, so you probably thought erotic meant sexy!" She fought a blush, wanting to inform him that there was a guy who praised her quite often. Forcing back the thought, she stepped away from him.
"I'm not stupid." She snarled.
"Hm…guess they're going out after all." The two bickering teens whirled on the band members.
"We are not going out!" They cried in unison. "She's just my childhood friend. Nothing more." Sho went on.
"Exactly. I'm Mogami Kyouko! And I would never be in any kind of relationship involving love with him!" Sho flinched and she looked over at him. "What?"
"Nothing." He grumbled, mentally pulling the arrow out of his heart.
"Hm. Too bad. I guess she's not Fuwa's girl. You were going to take everything that belonged to Sho, right?" She looked up incredulously as the tall man with longe blonde hair put his hand on Reino's shoulder.
"Heh. It doesn't really matter if she's Sho's or not." Kyoko felt her grudges slide back, slinking behind her. Sho looked at Reino in surprise, moving a little closer to her. "As long as it's her." He smirked at her, making her blood turn to ice.
"How was the bath?" Kyoko vaguely heard the words from where she was holding the door shut.
'He found me. He knows who I am. I'm scared…'
"Kyoko?"
"Oh! Um…it was huge." She smiled a little.
"Kyoko…you're so pale. Here, I'll run you a hot bath. You must have gotten chilled. Why didn't you wear the gown?" She heard Momose-san muttering about her strange behavior for a second.
'Why do I go numb when that man comes near me? It's like I'm frozen…' She clutched the gown fearfully.
"By the way, you're phone's been ringing for a while."
Kyoko walked over to the bed, picking up her phone and staring at the screen. '4 Missed Calls. Ren Tsuruga.' She sighed, staring at the phone. 'I'm scared.' She thought as she pressed the green button, redialing the number. 'If Shotaro hadn't been there…what would have happened to me?'
"Hello?"
'If I meet him again…'
"Kyoko?"
'What will happen to me?'
"Kyoko…are you there? Is everything okay?" His voice was filled with fear. "Kyoko did something happen to you?"
"Ren…"
"Yes?"
'I'm so scared.'
The sound of low music and chatter died away as Ren clutched the phone to his ear. "Kyoko, what happened?" He begged her, ignoring the surprised looks on the faces of the two other models sitting nearby.
"Huh? No." Her voice was suddenly cheerful. "Nothing happened. Sorry. I think I just can't get good signal in this hotel. Everything's fine. Filming starts tomorrow. Sorry I missed your calls. I was in the bath, and I haven't had a chance to call you yet."
"No…it's okay." He spoke slowly. Unable to see her face, he couldn't prove his suspicions, but he wasn't happy with this. 'She's lying to me.' "So…are you sure nothing happened?" In a room full of people, he couldn't exactly start questioning her, but he hoped that she would tell him the truth.
"Please don't worry Ren. Everything is fine here."
Kyoko forced herself to sound natural, knowing that he was suspicious. She heard a soft sigh on the other end. "Alright. I'll see you soon." He hesitated. "I love you Kyoko." He said it softly, and she closed her eyes.
'I shouldn't be lying to him. He knows it and I'm hurting him. But if I tell him the truth…he'll just worry.' "I love you too." She said simply, ignoring Momose-san's presence behind her. Hanging up the phone, she placed her face in her hands.
"Wow. Ren's heading back already?"
"Yea. He left this morning. He told the photographer that there was some kind of situation on the set of the drama he's working on, and requested that they finish up as soon as possible, so he didn't have any breaks."
"Wonder if it had anything to do with the 'Kyoko' girl."
"Probably. He seemed really worried."
"Did he manage to finish all of his shots?"
"Hm…I think so. He may have made a deal with the photographer about coming back after he gets back from Karuizawa."
Kyoko glared down at the musician sitting by the set. "What are you doing here?" She snapped, her arms crossed. 'Why does he show up when I'm trying to work?' After shaking himself out of the shock at her evil appearance, he rolled his eyes.
"I'm working." She glanced down at his sheet music and lifted an eyebrow.
"I thought you were in the middle of recording a song. Why are you starting a new one?"
"That's none of your business. " He snapped. "Besides, before you tell me to get back to work, maybe you should talk to someone else. Why is the lead actor not on set? I'll bet he's still sleeping in the hotel. Go wake your boyfriend up!"
She blushed but, much to his concern, didn't deny the boyfriend part. "Not everyone is like you, idiot. He won't be arriving until tomorrow." Sho's mouth dropped and he sulked.
"What a useless guy. He's never around when he needs to be."
Kyoko narrowed her eyes and was about to speak when she heard someone calling Sho's name.
Ren drummed his fingers as the taxi made it's way down the curvy road. Beside him, Yashiro glanced over in concern. "Ren, are you sure you're not overreacting?"
Ren closed his eyes, picturing her face, pale with fear, and her trembling form. "I'm sure."
Kyoko stared at her bento, picking at the food with a contemplative expression on her face. 'Don't go wandering off by yourself.' He was so serious when he said that…I wonder how much he knows.' She sighed and took a bite of her food. 'Well, no matter what, they don't know where we are filming, so…'
"Kyoko, you have a guest." Kyoko glanced up from her food. Eyes widening, she stood abruptly. "Wow, Kyoko, not only do you know Fuwa Sho, you know Vie Ghoul. Do you know all of the stars in the entertainment world?" She dove behind a door.
"Tell him I'm not here!" She cried desperately.
"But…why?" He smiled in confusion at the young actress.
"Because we don't know each other! He's a freaky, superhuman stalker!" The crewmember nodded, a strange expression on her face, and she held her breath, hoping that he would leave.
"Hey! Only the people involved in filming can come back here!" Her heard pounding, Kyoko raced down the stairs and pressed against the wall, terrified.
Silence. Then footsteps. Cursing silently, Kyoko began running. 'What am I going to do?' She came to a room filled with furniture and caught sight of a window. Climbing desperately, she pulled herself onto the pile and out the window.
"Wh…wh….where…is….she?" Fuwa placed his hands on his knees and panted. Director Ogata cocked his head and smiled a little, holding out a water bottle.
"Um…who?"
"What's going on?" Everyone looked up in shock at as the giant actor approached the group, barely sparing a disdainful glance at Sho. Yashiro ran in behind him.
"Where's Kyoko!" Sho ignored him, staring desperately at the director. Ogata glanced back and forth between them, but decided to answer Fuwa's question before questioning Ren.
"Um…I'm not sure. She was eating lunch." A crewmember popped up.
"Um…actually…someone just came looking for her. She kind of freaked out and ran off." He turned to the director. "She said the guy was stalking her." He held up a pair of slippers. "I found these under the window."
"Ouch!" Kyoko knelt down and gripped her foot, pulling the sharp thorn out and discarding the stick. A run ran up her leg, ruining her stockings. "Stupid Beagle!" She snarled.
"You called?" She froze, terror coursing through her as she shrunk back. "What? No more running?" He smirked. "I was hoping to chase you until you were out of strength and then eat you up." She paled and backed away, scooting until her back was against a tree.
"Why?" She cried.
He laughed. "Don't you remember? I'm taking everything of Fuwa's."
"I don't belong to him!" She cried furiously.
"So. He doesn't believe that."
"I don't care what he thinks!"
He smirked. "I know. I also said…." His hand gripped her wrist painfully and he pulled her up. "That doesn't matter." She was pulled back against his front, unable to move. Her blood turned to ice, and she felt the purple mist surround her. "What's wrong? Not going to run anymore?"
'I…can't move! No!' She felt his hand slide up her stomach and his other hand tilt her face, exposing her neck. 'Help me! Ren!'
Ren tore through the forest, ignoring the blonde falling behind. 'Where is she? Where could she have gone?' Looking around desperately, he tired to find some sign of her. "Kyoko!" He called her name, pushing deeper and deeper into the forest.
Kyoko felt his hand at her zipper. "It excites me to think about Fuwa's face when he sees you, after I make you completely useless." He tugged the zipper down, and she felt goose bumps on her bare skin as he revealed her full back. "This was his fault…he made it so easy to steal his song. He should have done something about it." His hand slipped into the front of her dress and stroked her skin, his lips making contact with her neck.
"But…why do these things?" She gripped his arm which held her stomach. "Why do you hate him so much?"
"Hate him? I don't hate him. There just happens to be a company that wanted a band to surpass Fuwa, and Vie Ghoul wanted to be famous…well, I'm just doing it for fun." Fury rose in Kyoko's heart, and she clenched her fist, wrenching away, and slapped him with all her might. His expression turned from stunned to fascinated as her demons swirled around her.
"Such a strong killing aura. Even though you don't like Fuwa…" Her eyes darkened.
"This has nothing to do with Fuwa, you demon from Hell!" He snapped, her voice like ice. "You've been stalking me for days! And it wasn't even for some kind of grudge! You were doing it for your own amusement." He smiled a little at the hatred in her eyes. "How dare you ruin someone's career for fun. You don't even have any ambition of your own." He laughed softly, reaching out a hand. Paralyzed again, she could only watch in horror as he approached.
"Fine. I won't bother Fuwa any more. From now on, I'll concentrate on you. Perhaps if I work hard enough, you will be more and more passionate toward me." He cupped her face, making her shudder. "What will it take?" His face approached hers, his lips centimeters away as his unnatural eyes met her terrified ones.
"Ren! Don't!" She barely heard the director's voice before a fist made contact with the Beagle's jaw, forcing him to release the terrified girl, and two strong arms caught her as she fell. She heard a gasp from behind her, and could feel Ren's anger as he held her.
"Hmph. It seems like the hero looks more ferocious than the villain." Reino remarked offhandedly from the ground, rubbing his jaw and glaring at Ren. Sho burst from the woods behind Ogata-san and, taking one look at the shaking girl in Ren's arms, lunged for the Beagle.
"No! Fuwa! Don't!" Ogata caught his arm. "Violence won't help!" Ren had to disagree, but didn't want Kyoko's name ruined because of this incident.
Kyoko turned to Ren's chest and trembled, clutching his shirt. She could vaguely hear the other three speaking, but ignored them. Now that it was over, the possibilities assaulted her, and she felt a tear fall down her face. She felt his hands move to her back and pull the zipper up, covering her again, and then pull away to stroke her face. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" She managed to shake her head, tears of fear finally falling. Ignoring the burning hatred coursing through his veins, he started to lead her back to the set, carefully avoiding looking at Reino. 'I can't kill him. I'll just let Fuwa take care of him…hopefully he does a good job. And if I can find him later…' His thoughts were cut short when she stumbled and whimpered in pain. "Kyoko?" He looked down at her in concern. She was limping.
"I stepped on something earlier." He nodded and scooped her up, resting her head against his shoulder. Her lack of response scared rather than comforted him, and he kissed her cheek softly.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner." He whispered sadly, shifting her closer to him. She shook her head and buried it in his shoulder. "I'm taking you back to the hotel, alright? It isn't a long walk from here."
Kyoko didn't want anyone to know about this, so she nodded, glad that he understood.
Ren placed her gently on the bed, sitting beside her. "Can you take your stockings off? I need to wrap your food." She nodded, standing and limping a little as she walked into the bathroom and slipped the stockings off, then returned. She sat at the head of the bed, legs outstretched, and he carefully took her tiny foot into his hands and wiped the blood away, revealing a small cut. He smiled, glad that it wasn't too bad, and, after cleaning it with alcohol and wrapping a small bandage around it, climbed to the head of the bed and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you okay?" She nodded, her head against his shoulder once again. She had barely spoken since he had found her, and it scared him.
Kyoko closed her eyes. 'He's going to be angry. I lied to him, and I let myself get attacked, and I was spending time with Sho…he's going to hate me! I should have told him last night…when I was so scared. I still am.' She realized sadly. 'What if he goes to the press and…my reputation is ruined? Or what if he comes after me again…and no one is around to protect me? Why can't I defend myself against him? What makes him so powerful?' Her eyes flew open when his lips pressed against her forehead, a sad, worried look on his face, and she realized that she had been silent for a while. "I'm sorry." She whispered, clutching his sleeve. "I…I lied to you. I saw him last night, and I was scared…but I didn't want to worry you…but I worried you anyway." She sobbed. "I'm sorry that I'm such an idiot and I can't protect myself and…" He enveloped her in his arms, his lips pressed against hers, and she relaxed, letting him kiss her but half afraid to respond to the sweet, passionate assault. Finally he pulled away, a hand on her cheek.
"I knew you were lying to me." She flinched. "I can always tell when you lie to me, and I was angry…but not at you. I was angry that you think that you aren't worthy for me to worry about. I'm angry that that…Reino has been harassing you, and that there was nothing I could do about it. I'm angry that I almost didn't make it in time to save you. But I am not angry with you. I love you, and I understand why you did what you did." She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek gratefully, and he chuckled softly. "I'm so glad that you're okay." He cupped her cheek. "I think Fuwa went after him…so he won't be bothering anyone for a while." She gave a hesitant smile. "And he'd better not come near you again, because I'll be there." He ruffled her hair.
"Um…Ren…" He gave her a questioning look, leaning back and placing an arm around her so that her head rested on his shoulder. "How…how did you get here so fast?"
"I originally planned on coming this evening to surprise you, but when I talked to you on the phone last night, I had a talk with the photographer and he rearranged my schedule. After I finish here, I'll be spending another day in Okinawa." Her eyes widened and he knew she was about to apologize, but suddenly she stopped.
"Thank you. If you hadn't come…" She trailed off, fear in her eyes again, and he squeezed her.
"I did come. I'll always protect you."
A/N: If you liked it, please send virtual cookies :) If you have no virtual cookies, virtual Twix bars are also accepted. :) Seriously, thank you for everyone who reads and reviews. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. (Aced my German test :D)
