Chapter 16

"Onee-sama? You don't look well." Maria told her as she sat at the table Kyoko was sitting at in the atrium of LME. She had decided to wait for Kanae so they could have lunch together after her meeting.

Kyoko shook her head. "Just have a lot on my mind Maria-chan." She perked up a little. "So how's your day been, you look pretty distracted yourself?" She asked, trying to get her mind off of the more serious matters.

Maria sighed. "Oh you know... Grandfather being Grandfather again. Always wanting to celebrate for any silly little reason. He wants to celebrate Winter Solstice and it's still a month and a half away. I just don't understand what gets into him. We just had All Hallows' Eve and now he's already dressing up as Saint Nicholas. It's almost as bad as when he dresses up as Cupid for Valentine's Day." She growled cutely.

Kyoko smiled and giggled a little. Maria always knew how to cheer her. "It seems to me that's just the way he is. Are you sure there isn't more to it than just that? I'd think you'd be used to him being that way by now."

Maria mumbled something inaudibly and had such a defeated look.

Kyoko stroked her small hand from across the table they'd chosen to sit at. She seemed a little depressed. With the idea that Ren always cheered her, she pulled out the little doll she'd made and placed him before her. "Please smile for me Maria-chan" She mimicked Ren's voice.

Maria gasped a little. "Ren-sama!"

Eventually, setting aside Kanae's irritation, Kyoko was finally able discern what exactly was bothering Maria. It was exactly the opposite of what was happening to her at the moment. She had suggested a small get-together. No one should be left out on the holidays. It was a familiar feeling Kyoko had been well acquainted with. Every child should enjoy their birthday, even if they didn't know when it was. She groaned a little at that thought. Why didn't it occur to her, to ask the one person that obviously knew when her own birthday was? And why couldn't she remember anything, but Kuon's name? Even then, she'd remembered it incorrectly. Perhaps she should agree to meet her parents. She had so many empty spaces where memories should have been and wanted to know why. She should be grateful that her parents had actually wanted to meet her. She thought a little sadly of Maria, maybe I should agree to meet my parents.

In a tall building, just a few city blocks away from LME, stood Akatoki Entertainment. In the largest office, on the very top floor, sat two very worried, perplexed and confounded women, trying to decide on their next steps regarding the fate of a very talented singer, troublesome boy, and "former" vampire.

"Aki-chan, do you have any idea how this could have happened?" Akatoki Miranda asked with genuine concern. The public and the press could NOT find out about these changes. It would be devastating for the company, Sho, and Aki, not to mention anyone associated with them in his promotion and debut. The producers, promoters, directors, and record company would go insane if they discovered they'd been sponsoring a... human. Not only that, humans were not the humans that they had come to know in their society, they were much closer to what the ancients would have considered an ape or monkey. Their intelligence had waned dramatically, and it was only on a miraculous occasion that one could even teach one sign language to communicate with it on the level of a four year-old child.

Shoko Aki sighed in defeat. "I have no idea. He told me that nothing out of the ordinary happened the night before that. He hasn't eaten anything that isn't considered normal for a vampire."

Miranda shot her a questioning glance. "Has he associated with any witches or..." She shook her head. "No, that's ridiculous... They don't exist."

Shoko looked up at her. "What?"

Miranda chuckled. "It's ridiculous to think of it. They only exist in the stories."

Shoko paled a little thinking of Kyoko. "That is?" Her tone took on a more serious lilt.

"Has he angered any Demons or Dark Elves? Any Angels? Because from the way this sounds, unless there is a supremely powerful witch he's pissed off at some point in his short life." Miranda said jokingly. This would probably be the only time she would see any humor in this situation at all.

Aki paled a little more and went suspiciously silent.

"Aki? Is there something you aren't telling me?" Miranda asked worriedly.

Aki rubbed her arm nervously. "Well... There is one." She then began to tell her, from the beginning to the very moment, the story and situation between Kyoko and Sho. She told how Reino was calling her Princess and finished with how he'd basically stalked her in Karuizawa.

"Aki-chan... You are aware that Lord Reino would not call her Princess on a whim..." Miranda said ominously.

Aki gave her a small nod.

"Aki-chan, if he is calling her Princess, and with what you've told me about Sho telling you she was an orphan, then there is the not so little incident when he decided that she was no longer useful to him, which by the way, if I'd know from the beginning he wouldn't have been signed, she very well could be the missing princess. She would definitely be capable of doing something like this and I would not blame her one iota for the punishment." She sighed. She was well informed of what the Emperor and Empress were. She was old enough to remember them before they'd sequestered themselves in the palace after their daughter had been taken. "Well... I suppose we'll just have to try and keep this under wraps. If I terminate his employment at this point, the media will start digging and find out why." She finally decided.

Aki breathed out a sigh of relief. "So, what do we do with him?"

Miranda groaned a little. "You made sure that when he was registered, you didn't use his name?"

Aki nodded.

"Good. I suppose your job just got a little more complicated. You'll need to keep him away from Vamps and other Were-folk like yourself as well as others with a keen sense of smell. They'll be able to tell by his scent. Elves and Fairies won't be able to tell unless he tells them and being Kitsune, I really couldn't tell the differences when he came in, so you should be safe with that. Just keep him under control and do not allow him to mingle with females. I don't want to be accused of allowing him to pollute someone's bloodline with human blood." Neither wanted that, it would be the equivalent of allowing one of their own kind to mate with a wild animal from the zoo or something to that effect. Completely repulsive.

Aki groaned a little.

"Don't worry. Werewolves are stronger than humans. I doubt you'll have any trouble keeping him in line. If you have any doubts, just make sure you give him the "jewelry" that we discussed to add to his image." She smirked as she pointed to the shock collar, wristband, and rings, accompanied by the handy-dandy little remote that went with them. Certainly it was a little harsh, but he did need obedience training and this was the only way to keep him in line without him initially refusing the "gifts".

Aki winced a little. Isn't this a little too much? Technically he was human, but he wasn't one of those slobbering, knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathers that humps your leg if you get too close or tries to rip off your scalp because they like the way your hair feels in their fingers. One thing that she was absolutely certain of, the Fuwa bloodline would end with him, unless they could find a female like him. Not very likely. Most weren't stupid or arrogant enough to piss off someone that was rumored to quite possibly be a legendary being.

"You haven't told him yet, have you?" Miranda asked when she saw her star manager pale again.

Aki stared at the training gear and gave a small shake of her head. "I don't know how to break it to him. He's still trying to get used to eating what Mimori-chan's been cooking for him in secret."

Miranda gave her a panicked look. "She knows?"

"NO! Of course not, but I think she suspects a change in him. She can be a little..." Aki trailed off, trying to be polite and find the right words.

"Dense?" Miranda asked with a cocked brow.

Aki let out a wry giggle. "Yeah..."

"Well, she's not exactly the brightest bulb in the pack, but she does seem rather devoted to him. I suppose it's fine if she's around him, but make sure to keep the others away and monitor the pair's interactions. We do not need that kind of scandal." Miranda instructed.

"Yes Ma'am." Aki told her as she started packing Sho's new image enhancing accessories. I suppose I'll tell him once he puts these on. Ugh, I really hate to have to do this to him, but I suppose that's what he gets for doing such things and not thinking of the consequences.