The websites picked up on it first, the various headlines appearing one after another like a chain letter on social media.

Kuon - golden son or monster?

The transformation of a prodigy.

And, Lori's least favorite of them all.

The secret shame of the Hizuri family.

It wasa good thing, Lori thought, that juvenile records in the States were not up for public viewing. As it was, the rags had only rumors and speculations to go on.

And, of course, what Julie had told them.

Director Konoe called him again. All the actors, with the exception of Murasame, had been instructed not to give any interviews until further notice. "They weren't happy about it, though," he added, his tone implying that neither was he.

"They can hold off for a while longer," Lori said. "Until at least we all have our stories straight." Julie was out of surgery, but the doctors would keep her in the ISU until she was lucid - which could take anything from a few hours to a few days. At first Lori had wanted to go ahead with the interviews and the statements immediately, but Kato - the smug bastard - had pointed out that the Hizuri family was hardly expected to go around talking about their careers when one of them was in the hospital, on the knife-edge of death.

Which bought the Hizuri family time, but was of no use to Kyoko.

As if reading his thoughts, Director Konoe asked after her, wondering how this new publicity would affect her projects.

"Mogami-san has been briefed." Lori said, trying really hard not to start gritting his teeth.

"The two of them, they were close, weren't they?" the director went on.

"Konoe-san, you know Ren," Lori said, his voice cool. "And you have seen enough of Kyoko's own abilities to know, the two of them are excellent actors."

"Indeed," came the answer. "They are both very good at hiding in plain sight. But that doesn't mean they will be able to maintain the performance 24/7."

Again with the performance. Lori closed his eyes and took a deep breath. People kept reminding him of this, as if it hadn't been on his mind as soon as the news had hit. How Ren and Kyoko, talented and hearted as they were, would not be able to pretend to be simple colleagues if the world's attention had been turned to them.

Out of patience, and more than a little bit cross with Konoe for bringing this up again, Lori ended the call and went to his terrace to smoke.

"This habit is bad for you," Jelly Woods said, joining him a few minutes later. Then, as if she herself was one of his actors, she took the cigar from his hands and drew deeply on it. "Well? What's the verdict?"

"Everyone is disgruntled, and there's too many people to take account of all at once," Lori said. "It'll be a miracle if the press isn't all over Kyoko within the next 24 hours."

"You're very pessimistic. I give them 36."

He wanted to believe her. After all, Setsuka Heel never went out of her way to humiliate or belittle anybody, nor did she go out and make enemies of herself. Surely, if they knew it was an act, the cast would show understanding and discretion.

But Lori was too old, and - despite his love of dressing up - too cynical. Whatever sympathy the actors and crew would feel towards Setsuka would be negated by the bad impressions they had of her "brother", and Ren had left plenty of bad impressions. It was one thing, being rude and conceited when you were a foreigner - being rude and conceited while also being the son of Hizuri Kuu was unforgivable. They would all want to put him in his place, and would not care who else got dragged along.

"How's Mogami-san?" he asked Jelly.

"I left her with her boys," she replied, referring to Yashiro and Kato. The two men had argued - politely, but without either backing down - as to how Kyoko's privacy could be protected best, until the girl had pointed out that she had no reason to hide in a hotel while the media storm blew over. Indeed, Kyoko had said, it was far easier for her to slip in and out of the restaurant in disguise than it would be in an unfamiliar hotel. "I think they were both a little taken aback with how assertive she was."

"It's good that she's assertive now," Lori said. "She's in for a hell of a week."

Jelly leaned against his shoulder. "You're very protective of her. I don't think I've seen you this upset over anybody else."

"Don't remind me." Lori shifted uncomfortably. He'd overheard, as Kyoko was leaving, her and Kato talking about her meeting with her father, and how they would have to time it. As if the girl didn't have enough drama in her life already… it was rare that Lori felt this bad over a decision. So many times he had left her go on doing what she wanted, assuming that, at 16-17, she was old enough to make her own mind. Now, all he could think of was how negligent he'd been, and how it was her that would suffer the consequences. "I just hope that it was all worth it."

It took about 18 hours before the first mention of Setsuka appeared - a very short line in an entertainment blog, squeezed between a life history of Hizuri Kuon, and Hizuri Kuu's latest Japan visit, which people were speculated was just a ruse to get his useless son a movie role. Then, in a couple of hours, another mention, this time from a news outlet that covered Kuon's early movie career, that ended in the presenter wondering how the "boy" managed to get through the shoot without exposing himself, and saying that it must have been down to his "lovely, but unconventional manager".

Then, as these things went, an "anonymous source" called and said that the girl wasn't a manager at all, and that her and Kuon's conduct on the set was far more intimate than anybody could expect.

All in all, Kyoko had about a day of pretending things would be okay before the papers were asking "Who is Setsuka?" and why on earth was she - presumably, a woman younger than Kuon himself - tasked with keeping him in line.

Two days after the news broke, someone with too much time on their hands had compared footage of Setsuka from the shoot (kindly provided by the same anonymous source) to pictures of all of LME's known talent and managed to narrow it down to ten actresses in the right age and body types. Another outlet "borrowed" the comparison and went a step further, comparing dates of known shoots to Setsuka's appearance. Kyoko, who was out shopping for herself at the time, didn't know whether to laugh or cry when the presenter said: "Mogami Kyoko might have been a strong contender, but she clearly isn't tall enough."

"It's good that they're dismissing you," Yashiro-san had told her later. "If you keep your head down they would eventually give up."

From his seat in the corner, Kato-san snorted. When she'd first arrived in the office, she'd thought that it was just a coincidence that he was here; but Yashiro had explained (very reluctantly, and with no small amount of resentment) that the accountant had arrived bright and early with enough legal paperwork to give a migraine to a judge.

Kato-san had been unrepentant. "An inheritance is not a simple matter, and neither is managing a career. There's a lot of things that were left to the last minute, because of your guardians' negligence, and your LME-appointed handler only did his bare minimum."

"Sawara-san works really hard," Kyoko objected. "He got me a lot of auditions when I was just starting out…"

"And then had you signing contracts without giving them more than a cursory reading," Kato-san went on.

"He was acting under the impression that Mogami-san was here with her guardians' blessing, as we all did," Yashiro said. Then, cringing, he added, "Although admittedly I'm not happy about this either."

"What's this?" she asked, sitting down. She recognized the documents they were pouring over - the contracts from Dark Moon, Box R, even her role as Bo. She blushed a little, wondering if Yashiro made the connection at all, but her new manager seemed fixated on something else. "Are my contracts bad?"

"Not bad, no. But they were drawn up without taking your guardians into consideration," Yashiro said, rubbing his eyes. "It's a boilerplate payment schedule, but the thing with actors who are under 18 is that…"

"That it's typically their guardians who manage the money," Kato said. "Don't worry, though. You worked on your own in Tokyo for a long time before you got your contract at LME. If the Fuwa family tries to lay any claim on your paycheck, we can argue that they're being greedy bastards that don't hold your best interests at heart."

"Yes, yes, because if they didn't care for her Daruma-ya paycheck then they wouldn't care what she made as Mio, you said," Yashiro complained, picking up on some thread of their conversation that still aggravated him. "My problem is—"

They went on back and forth, arguing over the legal definition of one term or another. Meanwhile, Kyoko just sat there, feeling like the floor had caved in on her.

It wasn't that she was completely naive about money - she was just not used to having much of it. Stretching funds out, making choices to minimize expenses, it was part of who she was. She didn't think about contracts or how they could be used to screw her over - nor was she used to having people who did, and who were on her side.

In fact, she hadn't thought about it much at all, but the way the entirety of LME had come to help her now, when a media storm was imminent, and the only person she wanted to speak to was across the ocean… it was like she had a family. Not a mother and father of the traditional sense of the word, but something bigger. Something both terrifying and reassuring.

"Would you like a ride home?" Kato-san asked at some point. He had a car, and, much to Yashiro's annoyance, had offered to drive them both around if need be. But, knowing that all she could do in Daruma-ya was sulk and stare at the wall, Kyoko had shaken her head.

"I'd like to stay with you, if you don't mind," she said. "I think I need to understand these things better."

Yashiro opened his mouth to say something, then closed it promptly. This wasn't one of the battles he was willing to fight.

His mother was sleeping. His father was out, talking to the doctors. He could call her now. There was nobody who could stop him.

Call her, and say… what? I'm sorry I lied? I'm sorry I let things go this far? I'm sorry I didn't recognize you the second we met?

Feeling uninspired, he took out his phone and went online. It had been difficult at the beginning, but now he was almost used to it - the barrage of insulting commentary, the constant trawling through 'his' filmography… none of them had made the connection with Tsuruga Ren, though. It was like the prince and the pauper - even if they wore the same face, nobody made the connection.

Well… one person did. The one who still believed in fairytales and held onto a keepsake from ten years ago.

Lost in his musings, he didn't realize what site he'd landed on until he saw a familiar, beloved face… followed by that of a pudgy old man, trying to determine whether Setsu's measurements could possibly be the same as that of emerging actress Mogami Kyoko. "She does appear rather flat-chested in her school photo," he was saying. "But let's not forget the things that ladies can do these days."

Kuon nearly smashed his phone.

Of course, the tabloids would get to her at some point. There was only so much they could do with his old film projects and recapping his parents' achievements. But never - not even in his worst moments - had he been subjected to this sort of leery curiosity from the media.

What have I done?

And, more importantly, how did she feel. After everything she'd done for him, after the trials they'd been through, he was the one hidden in a private facility and she had to field the media exposure. He couldn't wait anymore. He dialed her number.

She did not pick up immediately, and he wondered if she'd blocked his number. He wouldn't blame her if she did, of course, but still…

Then. Finally.

"Kyoko—" he rushed. "Thank you, thank you so much, you have no idea—"

"Is this Hizuri-san?" a male voice replied.

Kuon paused. Part of him wanted to drop the phone like it was a hot potato. Part of him wanted to reach across the line and strangle this guy - whomever he was, if he'd done something to Kyoko…

"Who's this?" he asked in English, too angry for pleasantries. "Why are you answering this phone?"

"My apologies. We've never been formally introduced - my name is Kato. Mogami-san asked my assistance when you were wrongfully accused a few weeks ago."

Kuon wanted to snarl, but he did recall - the accountant Kyoko had ran into on accident, the one who seemed to have a scarily good knowledge of both the legal and financial aspects of her life.

"As for why I'm answering Mogami-san's phone," Kato went on, "she is currently preparing for an important meeting and she has asked not to be disturbed."

Liar. There was no indication that the media had caught on, and even if they had, they still didn't have their stories straight.

"When will she be available then?" he asked.

"I'm sorry - there's no way to tell at this point," Kato said. "Shall I take a message for her?"

His hands started shaking. His voice was full of cold rage. At this maybe-accountant, maybe-lawyer with his finnicky, polite voice, and his micro-managing of everyone's lives, and, and, and…

"No," he said, at length. "No, you shall not."

"Very well. Have a—"

But Kuon hung up before he was done talking. When Kuu came back into the room, for the first time in years, he found his son crying.

Kyoko sighed. "Thank you, Kato-san." She'd panicked so hard when she'd seen the name flash across the screen, she'd practically thrown the phone at Kato and Yashiro, begging them to take the call. Her new manager had seemed as excited as her to talk to Ren… or Kuon… or whatever name he went by now, so it had fallen on her accountant to do it. Kato, for his part, had handled it like a champion.

"He might call again," he said, handing the device over. "You should decide what you would like to say to him when he does."

"Later," she said. "I'd… rather take these conversations one at a time."

Her father had arranged a meeting. After some discussion, she'd decided to get it over with. She didn't look forward to this any more than she did the conversation with her… current lover? Ex-lover? She'd barely gotten used to the idea of having one and now she was contemplating the fact that they might not have been an item to begin with.

Yashiro stood up, murmuring something about needing to stretch. Kato returned to his paperwork, as if nothing about the conversation had bothered him. She took in his appearance - his rumpled suit, his now-messy hair - and wondered if he got paid overtime by his company, or if he was doing all of this because he wanted to.

"You're not just an accountant, are you?" she asked. The question had been humming on her mind, but it had never seemed like a good time to bring it up. Now… she wondered if she would have another opening again.

For a while, it seemed like he hadn't heard her. Then he set the contract down and took his glasses off. "What do you think?"

She thought for a while, then shrugged. "I think that you're more invested in this that anybody would expect. I think that you know a lot more than you're letting on."

He smiled, but it was a sad, tired one - more a grimace than anything else. "Accountancy is underrated, Mogami-san. There's a lot that a person can hide in numbers."

She shook her head. She'd seen the movie, too.

"I do admit," he went on, "the company that I work for doesn't specialize in bookkeeping. We are a more… multi-tasking agency than our obvious competitors."

"You seem more hands-on, too," she said.

"Ah." This time, the smile reached his eyes. "Well… I suppose it never was an appropriate time to say this, but to be honest, it was your mother who brought me on board."

Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "The company was my mother's?"

"No. But she did work with them - as a consultant, as a subcontractor, depending on what they needed." He put his glasses back on, and for a second, Kyoko wondered just what sort of history Kato-san had with her mother. It didn't seem like there would be much, but… "Your mother was supposed to be resting, when we met," Kato-san said. "She insisted on working, though, so her bosses gave me my case to take care of."

"Your… case?" she asked.

"I was something of a problem," Kato said. "My family is from Hokkaido. They own a big woodworking business there, sort of a big deal around town. They sent me to Kyoto to university. I only made it to Tokyo and then stopped taking their calls."

She felt her jaw drop. "You… you ran away?"

"Funny, right," he said, smiling. "I wasn't much older than you at the time, and I thought… with so many people, they wouldn't be able to track me down. I was 18, they couldn't call the police if they didn't suspect foul play… I didn't count on them calling a fixer. Or that the person who would come for me would be pregnant."

Kyoko was still processing the fact that Kato-san - who was so youthful in his appearance - would be at least twice her own age, when the rest of it hit her. "You… we met?"

"If you call it that," Kato-san said. He looked like an indulgent uncle then - hardly the hardened guy Yashiro and the rest had witnessed so far. "She came into the dorm under the pretext that she was my girlfriend, and the landlady just let her in. The first thing she did was ask me why I hadn't offered her tea yet. And I scrambled to obey." He shook his head. "I don't think I've ever been this scared in my life."

"Why…" Kyoko struggled for words. There were so many questions in her mind. "Why was she sent to find you?"

"Her business was in renting and selling property," Kato-san said. "She had… I want to say ties, but it was as though she had encyclopedic knowledge of the city. Where would somebody go, where would they stay, where were they most likely to turn up. She knew how much everything cost and how people were drawn to certain places over others. I'd lived a sheltered life, and I hadn't been very elaborate in my preparations for this disappearance. All she had to do was narrow down the likely places, and then visit them all. She had me at the second."

Kyoko just gaped and gaped. She wondered if she should contradict him, but… it seemed like exactly the sort of thing her mother would do. The sort of person she would be. Taking on work when she was meant to rest, tracking down wayward young men.

"Did you go back to your parents? Or did you go to Kyoto?" she asked.

"Neither," Kato said. "Your mother and I talked for a while. She… I expected her to order me around, demand that I do my filial duty and not disgrace my family further." He looked down at his hands. "It wasn't as though I was doing anything shameful, you understand," he said, almost to himself. "But it would have been to my parents, and our town… our town was very small, even then. I thought the best thing for me would have been to disappear quietly."

It was the sort of place that, were she in a drama, she would have asked what the secret was. But, looking at Kato-san, she felt strangely embarrassed. Like making him relive that memory was cruel. Kyoko had a couple of guesses anyway - and it didn't matter if he confirmed any of them. "What did my mother do? You said you expected her to be—"

"Bossy, yes. I was prepared to fight," Kato-san said. "But all she said was 'I see'. Then she asked me how I would like to learn a different trade."

"Just like that?" She would never have imagined Saena to be… nice. Or accommodating.

"I'm abbreviating, of course," Kato-san said. "There was a lot of back and forth. She kept testing the waters, trying to figure out what made me tick… I didn't know it then, of course, I felt like I was being interrogated. But she never pushed me very far and she was never dismissive. It was a new thing for me - to feel like somebody was actually hearing me.

"In the end, she made me an offer - I could go ahead with my plan, to try and disappear and hope that my parents eventually got the hint. The other option was to tell my family I had escaped for the sake of a different career path, and then apprentice with a firm she had close ties with."

Kyoko was quiet for a long time. She wondered why he had accepted - why he couldn't have chosen any other job, any other field. "What made you want to go with the second option?" she asked.

"Desperation," Kato said. "To an extent, anyway. I thought, if she found me, how long until somebody less nice did. I thought I would put up appearances for a while and then leave. But…" He paused, thinking. "She said something to me, your mother, something that made me curious enough to go along, and then, eventually, to stay. She told me that running away was a perfectly legitimate option, if I didn't bring my problems along with me."

She waited for him to elaborate, uncertain how to react to this particular tidbit. "Why was that relevant?" she asked at length.

"It made me think of what my problem actually was. I used to think it was just my parents, and how they would treat me if they found out I was… something other than what they wanted for themselves. I thought everything would be okay if I found one person who accepted me for who I was… who I am."

"And wasn't it?"

"I thought it would be, at the time." He leaned back in the chair and smiled. "I'm older now. I've accepted, and been accepted by, many people. It was… and still is, very nice, very reassuring. But it doesn't do away with the demons, not by itself."

Her heart gave a painful lurch. Both fairies and furies poked their heads over her shoulders, listening intently. "Demons, Kato-san?" she tried joking. "You didn't strike me as religious."

"I'm not in the policy of worrying about afterlife before I die, if that's what you mean," he said, smiling. "The demons I talk about are the ones who follow you while you're alive. They eat at your mind, at your heart. They suck the joy out of everything, and make your accomplishments seem… insignificant. I can see you know what I'm talking about." Without realizing, Kyoko had began nodding.

"Yes," she said.

"It's awful," Kato went on. "You think, if only somebody contradicted them. If only someone told me they're wrong. But most people, they have their own things to worry about. And when they see your demons, they're not very kind. And because the demons are in your ear all the time, when someone does come along and tries to fight them for you, you don't believe them. Sometimes you side with the demons and fight your rescuer."

There was a noise from the hallway, and Kato seemed to shake himself out of whatever daydream he was lost in. "I apologize, Mogami-san. I didn't mean to waffle like that."

"No," she said, her throat dry. "I… it was very helpful. You… my mother told you this?"

"Yes. At the time, it was little more than an interesting thing to make me pause. And I was very stubborn, very proud - it took a lot to startle me. I thought, somebody like that, I should try to learn from." He coughed, as Yashiro came back in the room. "Please don't let my morosity bother you, Mogami-san. It's all ancient history."

She wanted to tell him no. She wanted him to keep going.

Why? The furies whispered. Why bother? He didn't know her the way you did. He didn't have to live with her. He didn't have to deal with her moods. He didn't get abused for not doing perfectly at school.

He is rather biased, the fairies ventured.

Which is why Kyoko kept silent, and returned to perusing her birth certificate. She was about to get a lot of accounts of her mother today. And it was only lunch.

A/N PhD is still kicking my arse. That is all.