AN: So, I decided to update this and I know how quick this update was. I'm planning on working on some other works before the next update however. I want to thank you for your support and again, the reviews really motivated me to update so quickly so, thank you. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter Four – A Deep Level of Hurt

Kyoko looked up at Julie, her whole body going through a rush of different emotions. She understood that she still loved Ren, or Corn, or Kuon or whoever he actually was, but he had lied to her. She couldn't even state that she didn't understand it. She had the feeling that he had played along with her, not to toy with her, but because he was a good guy who wanted to protect her beliefs and her innocence.

She understood what he thought her intentions were with him, she wasn't dumb enough not to know what her words were expressing to him. In his mind he had no idea how much she cared about him and had 'maidenly feelings' towards him. He thought that she only cared about him as a senpai and before, the first time he could have told her, she had disliked him and thought that he disliked her too.

At that time she wouldn't have even known what to do with this information.

It wasn't even a lie like Shoutaro's lies to her.

Shoutaro had lied to her for his own gain. He had used her. He had taken her away from Kyoto and though she was happy with the life she was living, she didn't want to give him any credit for how she had established herself in the acting world. The reasons that Ren…Kuon had for masking his identity might have been to help her, she wasn't sure about that. Ren had stood by her side, protected her, defended her, made sure that she had what she needed to be nourished as an actress.

He had still lied though.

She felt ashamed of herself and of what she had stood for in the past by accepting the fact that he had deceived her. If she didn't care for him the way that she did, she would be swearing to get back at him for his trickery. Now all she wanted to do was yell at him, try to find out how idiotic he thought she actually was. She didn't want to hurt him though.

It was so much different from how she had felt about Shoutaro.

Why were the men in her life such assholes as to never admit to her the truth? Also, why were all the men in her life blond!? That was such a weird hair color in Japan and somehow she had three of them vying for her attention. Apart from two things, Bastard Number Two didn't really have blond hair. Number Two, Ren…Kuon wasn't vying for her attention, he had someone else that he was in love with.

He had his high school girl.

She felt tears in her eyes as she realized that it wasn't Ren who was in love with this girl, it was Corn…Kuon. Corn, her fairy prince, was in love with someone. She had to force herself to wish the best for him but she was so jealous of the woman that Corn loved. She had always held a special place in her heart for Corn and she had fallen in love with Ren whether she wanted to admit it or not.

Now both of them were being stolen away by somebody who could really hurt them.

As angry as she was with his lies, she had to support him. He had to know that she wanted to be his friend still. She had to get over her bitterness about his lying and support him and show her understanding of how he wanted to keep his identity classified information.

She had to forgive him or otherwise he might push her aside again.

She couldn't bear it if either of them chose to do that.

"Kyoko-chan?" Julie asked as she tilted her head to the side with two ice creams prepared for her, somehow she had moved Kyoko away from the cash register so that the line could keep flowing even with Kyoko staring out into space. "Are you alright? If you continue standing like that, the ice cream is going to melt," she commented.

Kyoko nodded, "I'm okay, Julie-san," she lied as she went to sit down at a table. "I am just thinking about the drama," another lie.

"You were thinking about that picture, weren't you?" Julie guessed. She hoped that Kyoko didn't have a brain that worked so fast as to put together the pieces from a ten year old who didn't really look like her son did anymore and Ren Tsuruga. She hadn't wanted to blow her son's cover especially to a woman he loved and would stay in Japan for despite the acting world being a lot smaller.

"You're Tsuruga-san's mo-" Kyoko was about to ask before looking around, this wasn't the right venue to disclose the secret despite Julie Hizuri already knowing who her son was. "I mean, you are, aren't you?"

Julie froze, "I'm not sure what you're talking about, Kyoko-chan," Julie lied wanting to protect her son and follow the rules that had been set up for that protection. "I'm a Hizuri," she said as Kyoko frowned.

"I know that the actor I'm starring opposite is Hizuri, Kuon" she commented before looking up and meeting the woman's gaze. "If you deny it when I already know, then you are as bad as he is."

"Or maybe I'm just trying to be the best mother I can be," Julie replied to the young woman. "Kyoko-chan, my son has been through a lot. He had a lot of rejection as he tried to be an actor. The man who kidnapped him and brought him to Japan provided a stage name for him so that he would be able to step outside of my husband's shadow. I think he's achieved that already."

Kyoko froze and nodded. That made a lot of sense as to why he would adopt another name, at the same time though it didn't excuse him from continually deceiving her. "Yes, he has."

Julie looked at Kyoko and tilted her head to the side just watching the girl in front of her. She wasn't sure why all of this mattered so much to her. Was it because her husband had asked her to act as Kuon. Kuu had told her it was just a training exercising, but maybe there was more to it than that. What if her husband had told her the reasons why Kuon had come to America.

It was hard to attribute such things to Ren Tsuruga, but Julie had seen media coverage of Cain Heel. She could understand Cain Heel doing the things that her son had done in the past. Kyoko had been close to him during that time as well.

"Kyoko-chan, can I ask you why you're so upset?" she asked reaching out for her hand.

Kyoko looked down before shaking her head, she didn't know if she could explain it. She didn't know if she could even explain the experiences that she had had as a six year old let alone what had happened in Guam. She tried to stop her crying, but her body felt like it was being torn into with a sharp knife.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she looked down. "I can't explain to you what I'm feeling, Julie-san. I do apologize about that. I just learned that I'm not as close to Tsuruga-san as I had thought," she said though she knew she was talking about two different people.

Why had Corn hidden this from her?

….

….

Ren stood in the cold outside the restaurant. He was wearing a fashionable coat that went down to just above his knees that he had bought in America as well as a sweater and fashionable pants. He waited for Kyoko trying to ignore the camera flashes and people coming up to him. She was late. This didn't seem like a good sign and he was starting to get worried about her.

He had wanted to tell her everything at this dinner, he just wanted to go at his own pace. He didn't want to upset her by not treating this conversation with the delicacy it deserved. As he finally saw her, he was surprised to see the tears in her eyes.

Had something happened? Would this even be a good time to bring it up?

"Mogami-san?" he asked as he took a few steps towards her. They didn't have to be here if she was upset, he didn't want to do anything that would lead her to be uncomfortable. He wasn't expecting what happened next. Without a word, Kyoko had thrown a small bag with something hard inside right to the left side of his chest.

"Mogami-san, are you alright?" he asked concerned as he had managed to catch the item. He saw the pain in her eyes as well as a mix of anger, hurt, and confusion. He opened the bag and was stunned to see that she had just thrown Corn at him. This was her valuable treasure, why was she trying to hit him with something that meant so much to her. "Mogami-san, what is it? What happened?"

"I wouldn't have rejected you or told your secret," Kyoko said with her fists at her side. Ren blinked as he watched her, he didn't understand what she was talking about. Did she think that he was upset about something and had to rely upon Corn?

"I'm sorry," Ren said as he tried to figure out Kyoko's demeanor as well as her actions. "I'm not sure what you're referring to, Mogami-san?" he asked as Kyoko looked at him and then closed her eyes trying not to break down into tears.

"You know very well what I'm talking about, Corn" she said trying not to show his weakness. She didn't see how his eyes widened in shock or how he had turned pale. How had she found this out? What had happened that he didn't understand?

"I…uh…" Ren said as he looked from side to side. "I…ju—"

"You don't have to explain how I'm so unimportant to you that you couldn't even tell me the truth," Kyoko said as her heart beat painfully in her chest. "It all adds up. Did you lie to me just so you could laugh at me? Was I really such a distracting toy that my idiocy provided amusement for you?" she asked as he stared at her, hurt by her words.

"I would never laugh at you," he said with a troubled and yet very pained expression on his usually composed face. "When you were a child, you didn't need some troubled American boy, you needed someone who could listen to you. I didn't think that I would ever see you again so I thought if you needed to believe in fairies and that made you happy, you could call me one," he said as he looked around nervously.

"So you're finally not denying it!?" Kyoko snapped at him. "You could have told me when you knew who I…"

"When I found the stone you had a very different opinion of me than you did of Corn. I could already see some of the pain you were facing especially when you flipped me off. I didn't want to cause you to erase your memories and I was scared. I honestly was scared, Mogami-san," he said as he saw her standing there with all her pain able to be seen.

"Why were you scared? You could have explained it to me." Kyoko said as she still attempted not to make eye contact.

"You see Tsuruga ren as a mentor, someone you aspire to be in the acting world. Your perception of Corn is a complete 180. You care about Corn, you like being his friend, you can share things with Corn. I was scared that because of your strong dislike of Tsuruga Ren, you would cast Corn aside if I ever told you. I know this sounds stupid," he said as he ran his hand through his hair, "but I was planning on telling you the truth about who I was tonight."

Kyoko looked at him finally and saw how guilty and ashamed of himself he looked, but she also knew that he was telling the truth. If she had only picked up that photo the next day instead of this day then maybe things would have been okay. "It's because you have to, isn't it?" she asked as he watched her. "With the way that they put your character in the drama?"

"That's a big reason, I can't argue against that. However, I feel that with the amount of privacy you showed with the Heel siblings situation that it was time I shared that part of my life with you. You're special to me, Kyo— Mogami-san." Ren caught himself as he said that. He felt that he was losing and he didn't know how she had figured it out without him saying anything to her. "Do you want me to drive you back home?" he asked nervously, "We don't have to go out."

"So now that you can't joke around with me, you have no interest in me?" Kyoko asked with tears in her eyes. "Is that how it's going to be? I can't even be friends with you, Corn?" she sniffled as Ren looked at her in shock and shook his head.

"No, that's not it at all. You just seem upset, Mogami-san, it would be a cruel thing for me to force you to have dinner with me." he said before showing her the bag. "Did you want this back?" It's yours," he said as he showed her the bag.

Kyoko nodded silently as she took it from him. "I just wish you happiness with the girl you love, but please don't make her wait too long until you tell her who you are. I'm sure she'll be ecstatic about having someone like Corn be in love with her."

Ren nodded slowly, "How did you know that there's somebody that I…"

"I just wish you so much happiness," Kyoko said as she tried to overcome the fact that somebody else would one day be held by Corn, would be kissed by Corn, would hear Corn tell her over and over again how loved she was and how special to him she was. "I can't be here," she said before using her own abilities to sprint off into the night.

Ren looked at the way she had run helplessly not sure whether to pursue her or tell her the truth or not. Would that scare her even more? He took a deep breath in, it was worth a shot, wasn't it?