Chapter 32

He was really confused. It all seemed real enough when he saw it. Was he the only one that noticed that Kyoko turned into the lead vocalist of "Muse" right before their eyes? What the hell was she, exactly? His thoughts brought back a few of Aki's words to him, on how Kyoko was special and how he would regret mistreating her. Was this why? Was there something she could or would do to him?

Now more than ever he felt the urgency to bring her back to his side. Perhaps if he gave her what she had originally wanted from him, he would go back to being the owner of her heart. This was all such a pain. He had to devise a way of giving her what she had wanted and keeping something like that secret from his fan-base. He couldn't have them thinking he was attached to such a plain-looking girl. It would be bad for his image, even if she was special like Aki had suggested.

All of the above was the very reason that one would find a cocky, confident Sho Fuwa strutting through the studio to the sound stage of Dark Moon, holding the gaudiest flower arrangement known to mankind, and a self-satisfied smirk on his face. He figured that all he really needed to do was apologize to her, point out that her boyfriend Kuon, was just using her for her newfound popularity, that he was personally responsible for, and tell her that he loved her even if she wasn't much to look at. That would work, right?

"What the hell is this? Are you delivering for a florist in your spare time now?" Kyoko spat out.

Sho raised a brow and leaned in. "You like it, don't you?" He shook it in front of her.

It had all of the flowers that she liked, incredibly enough, and all of the little sparkly embellishments. She nodded. "I do, but why are you here with it?" She asked cautiously. She had never known him to give her anything without strings attached.

"Well, I just want to be the first to congratulate you on your first meaningless relationship. You know, the one you have with that hanger-on, pretty-boy you're dating." He told her as he watched her glance at Ren.

His eyes narrowed when he saw the interaction between the two. However, he was not going to let that deter him from his mission. "And it's meant to be an apology... You know for that stuff that happened, that time."

She rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms before he tried to shove the flowers into her arms. "Exactly to what are you referring? You'll have to be more specific, because you've pretty much been an ass ever since last March." She told him irritably.

His brow furrowed. He really couldn't think of what she was talking about. Of course, she'd been referring to infinite number of phone calls, him striking her, the harassment in Karuizawa, and the list went on and on. Although, he honestly didn't see it that way.

He had been silent too long. Of course he couldn't see what he'd done wrong and he wasn't going to apologize honestly for any of it. She was so over something like this long ago. She'd dealt with other musicians just as self-absorbed as he was and she was done. She rolled her eyes and huffed. She shook her head. "If it takes you that long to think of it and you still haven't figured it out, you aren't being honest with your apology Fuwa-san. Please leave, some of us have a job to do and can't afford to waste time on trivial things." She turned to walk away and was surprised by what had happened next.

Sho grabbed her in desperation, twirled her to face him and kissed her. He was hoping that this would do the trick. It certainly helped shut Mimori up. Although, he never expected it to have such an effect on him. It seemed as though the world had stopped for him. He felt as his blood grew thick in his veins and his body became rigid. He pulled away from her and tried to speak, but nothing came out. He could only see her. He lifted his hand to try and pull her to him again and found that he couldn't. He glanced down and saw that his skin had become a marbled white. What the hell is happening to me? The thought in a panic.

He watched as Tsuruga walked up to her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "Aoidḗ, Love you're going to have to turn him back." He heard him whisper to her softly.

She pouted and shot Sho a glare, that would have turned him to stone if he hadn't already been turning to marble. "NO! I am sick to death of him pulling crap like this. I want him out of my life and this is the only solution I can think of."

Deimos sighed. "Love, what will your father say about it? You know the new rules. You cannot be punishing mortals like this." He was trying to make her see a little logic.

"I am more than willing to face the music when it comes to Father Zeus' judgments. I'm sure he'll see it my way regarding this vermin." She turned her back to Sho and Deimos. "Besides, if you're so worried about it, then just wipe their memories of him ever being here. It's not that hard." She waved her hand at the room of stationary mortals, frozen in time.

Deimos sighed once again. "You're not changing your mind on this, are you?" He pressed.

"No... I am not. At least he'll make a pretty bird bath or, garden fixture." She giggled and Sho was seriously panicking at this point. Was she going to leave him like this? Zeus is her father?!

He watched as Tsuruga's visage shimmered and transformed into a tall, blond, green-eyed, shirtless male, dressed in leather pants, with some very nasty looking knives on his belt. An overwhelming sense of dread washed over him and terror permeated his very soul as he watched the large male walk to him and stand before him.

Deimos sighed. "This is your doing, you know. You should have just left well enough alone. I'm not sure if Zeus will take pity on you. She definitely won't." He glanced back at the fuming goddess. "You really don't know who or, what she is, do you?" He asked in the one-sided conversation. "Let me give you a hint. It's not like you're going to remember any of this anyway." He chuckled. "She, foolish young mortal, is my wife. She is the goddess Aoidḗ, the muse of song and tune, the Goddess of Music, and the single individual that you should most definitely NOT be fucking with or, pissing off." Deimos groaned a little. "I really don't know why I'm doing this. You're just going to come back and piss her off again and I'll have to do another save." He sighed and Sho felt himself being pulled into something from behind. Deimos looked up at Aoidḗ and shook his head. "Why don't you go cool off in your dressing room. I'll take him to see Zeus and we can let him decide what to do with him."

Her head whipped around to him. "WAIT! I-I'll fix him." She groaned defeatedly. This was something she really didn't want to do. She pretty much preferred to bathe in the molten rivers of Tartarus with all of the strange little creatures slithering around her, then reverse what she'd done to Sho. She closed her eyes and swallowed. She sighed once again deeply and shook her head. She rolled her eyes. "I'll fix him. I assure you that this is something that we both might regret... Letting him walk away from here today." She warned him. "You know he'll be back. He's like a cockroach."

Sho winced inwardly at her description of him.

Deimos nodded. "I know Love, but there are other ways to take care of him you know. You could easily strip him of his talents, and have you forgotten that my mother is Aphrodite, and brother is Eros?" He smirked. "If they knew how he'd treated the Goddess of Music and the way he's been using love... Well, let's just say that he would find himself in a very slippery situation with a shark as a cuttlefish or, on a plate as fugu sashimi." He chuckled and Sho was screaming inwardly.

NO, NO, NO! I DON'T WANT TO BE SOME RICH FOREIGNER'S MEAL! If he could, he would have been crying at this point and begging her to forgive him for everything he did and didn't do. Hell, he would have confessed to being responsible for world hunger if it got him back on her good side at this point.

She shook her head and giggled at the imagery. She gave him a small smile, walked to the marble statue and patted his cheek. "There. You can wipe his memory, but get him out of my sight before I change my mind and do something much worse."

Deimos kissed her cheek and chuckled. "And that's why I love you, My Dear. You are so creative." He pulled the slowly transforming mortal with him to his dressing room. "You really don't know how lucky you are Fuwa. I only wish that things didn't have to be this way... for now." Then there was a flash of bright, white light.

"Sho... Sho..." Sho blinked to see the worried face of his manager. "Are you okay? Tsuruga-san's manager said that you fainted in the hall. Are you okay?"

Sho sat up and felt his head pounding. "Ow... I think so. Did I hit my head or, something? I really can't remember much. I think I went to tell Kyoko I was sorry and I really can't remember anything after going into the studio."

Aki Shoko nodded, not really believing that was what had happened. She would reserve judgment for later. "Do you feel well enough for your interview in an hour?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think so." He told her as he stood, wobbling a little.

"Good, let's get going." She told him, gently pulling him out of the lounge where they had placed him.