"Cut! Great job, you two! Let's get ready for the next scene!"

Cedric Bennet stepped down from the set and off to the side where Kimiko Morizumi awaited him with a bottle of water.

"Oh, Ceddy-sama, you're so perfect! You led Hiromune-san through the whole scene! You're amazing!"

Koga bristled where he stood about fifteen feet away at the craft services table. Where does this brat get off!? He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Kuon, who smiled at him.

"Let it go," he whispered. "We wouldn't want to hurt His Highness's feelings, now would we?"

Koga huffed under his breath and took a bite out of a donut. "I want to hurt more than just his feelings. Prince Prick has it coming."

To say that working with Cedric had been a joy would be an enormous lie. He was cocky, arrogant, and could not admit fault. While Kuon had been doing his best to dance around his cousin's asshole nature and even use it to his advantage during scenes, Koga was having more trouble because he didn't know him as intimately.

Kuon looked over at Kimiko and Cedric. Kimiko was fawning over him, making sure that not a hair was out of place. Cedric was enjoying the attention, but Kuon could tell that he looked at the girl as an object and nothing more. After all of the times that Cedric had called him a "Nip" and a "Jap" during their childhood, seeing him fetishize a Japanese girl made Kuon want to split his lip.

Kimiko continued her not-so-subtle critique of Koga's acting. "You really should request that they fire him and get someone else, Ceddy-sama. He's just no good. He tries to make you look bad! He should go back to that cut rate show he was on, the one with the ninjas."

Kuon looked to stop him, but it was too late.

"Oh, you mean the one you auditioned for and didn't get because of Kyoko-chan?"

Kimiko stopped and smiled in Koga's direction. "You mean the one I bowed out of and gave to Kyoko-chan because it was trash?"

Koga smirked. "That ain't how I heard it, kid." He took a drink from his water bottle and walked away laughing. When she thought no one was looking, Kimiko glared at his retreating back. But Kuon saw.

Kuon shook his head and grabbed a bottle of water from the table. Even if he had wanted to eat, there was no way he'd be able to today. In just about an hour, Kyoko would be going live on a Japanese morning talk show to go public with their relationship. He was scared for her, worried about what the reaction of the fans would be, but also excited that he would be able to finally let his real feelings about her be known. His stomach hadn't knotted this bad since his last night in Japan when he and Kyoko had made Oahu Omurice.

The next scene was a fight between Koga and Kuon's characters. They took their positions on the set. As they got ready, Kuon noticed Kimiko standing behind Koga on the set for just a moment, and then she was gone. He shook it out of his head as he prepared to get the choreography just right.

Leonard Herbert called for action, and the two came at each other with two prop swords. They locked up at first, traded blows, and then broke apart. Koga leapt backward. He should have stopped when he landed, but he kept skidding across the set. His eyes went wide as he tried to recover, but he was unable to stand up and kept slipping. He fell off the stage.

"AH! SHIT!"

Kuon heard him cry out in pain and rushed toward him, but stopped short. There was something on the stage that was reflecting the light. He knelt and pressed his fingers to it, and found that it was wet. He knew then that Kimiko must have put something on the set to make him slip. When Kuon got around to him, Koga was clutching his ankle, red-faced in agony. The on-set paramedic rushed over and rolled Koga's pant leg up. He felt around, causing Koga to grit his teeth and curse under his breath. The paramedic sighed. "Load him up, we're going to the ER."

Kuon looked around the set and found Kimiko Morizumi watching from behind some equipment boxes. She was laughing.

In Tokyo, Kyoko was sitting in Jelly Woods' makeup chair, getting ready for her interview on Channel 22. Julie had once again delivered a stunningly beautiful outfit, though it was more mature than Kyoko had bargained for. The suit was lovely and showed off Kyoko's long legs, but it had not come with a shirt. Kyoko had called Julie the day before.

"Mother, it's beautiful, but there's no shirt? What should I wear under it?"

"Oh, Kyoko-chan, you don't wear anything under it."

Kyoko had turned bright pink. "B-but it's awfully low-cut…"

"My dear, that's the trend now! And you've got just the figure for it!"

Kyoko thought of her less-than-ample bosom and almost died of embarrassment. Julie had eventually talked her into it, and she figured that if Julie Hizuri, Goddess of the CatWalk, thought it would look good, then it probably would.

Jelly finished her hair, which they had opted to flat iron, and her makeup, a sultry smokey eye and glossy pink lip, and stood back to admire her handiwork. "Adorable! Just the absolute cutest!"

Kyoko looked at herself in the mirror and swallowed. She barely recognized the person staring back at her. She had met with an LME PR rep a few days prior to go over questions that might come up and how to answer them. She had asked the rep how she should act for the interview, and the woman had shaken her head and chuckled. "Just be yourself."

Kyoko knew herself to be a straight-backed working stiff. She figured that if she was going public with the knowledge that she was dating Ren Tsuruga, she needed to be… less that. She thought of how she had been for the Dark Moon party and decided that was how to do this, but that had been much easier. Kuon had been directly next to her for that one, and she had drawn confidence just from his presence. This time, she was on her own.

The producer came back and smiled at her with his headset on. "You're on in five, Kyoko-chan!"

"Thank you!"

Jelly followed her out to her place behind the curtain. Kyoko watched the monitor in the back and could hear the discussion out on the stage. The host, Mei Kurosugi, was what Lory considered a safe interviewer. She was known to be sweet and kind to her guests, and not ask too many prying questions, unlike Mika from Channel 20. This didn't completely eliminate Kyoko's fears, however.

"So," started Mei mysteriously, "There has been a lot of speculation over the last week about a certain R'Mandy ad." The crowd whispered amongst themselves, and Mei chuckled behind her question cards. "I have just as many questions as you guys! I mean," they showed a still from the commercial where Kuon was looking deeply into Kyoko's eyes, "Tell me they aren't adorable!"

The crowd roared their approval, which slightly bolstered Kyoko's confidence. Maybe they won't hate me after this, she dared to hope. Mei continued on, "I figured in order to get some answers to my questions, and yours, that I might need to invite a special guest to the show to clear some things up. So, without further ado, let's bring out Kyoko-chan!"

Kyoko put on her best smile and entered through the curtain. She waved at the crowd, who were cheering her on. When she reached Mei, they bowed to each other and took their seats. "Welcome to the show, Kyoko-chan!"

Kyoko smiled sweetly at her. "Thank you, Kurosugi-san. I'm excited to be here."

"So, you're a bit of a chameleon." Mei pointed behind them where pictures of Natsu, Momiji, and Mio graced the screen. Several people in the crowd gasped, having not known that all three of these characters were portrayed by the same girl.

Kyoko tucked her hair nervously behind her ear. "I suppose I am."

"Is it difficult to act out such different characters?"

Kyoko nodded. "It's hard to find the character's spirit, and to really understand their motivations and how they're supposed to be. Once you understand the character, though, it becomes easier."

"I heard that you recently worked on the InuYasha film as Kagura. Was it easier to come up with the character because of the source material?"

Kyoko tilted her head to the side as she thought of her answer. "It's easier in some ways and harder in others. People are expecting Kagura to be a certain way, which doesn't leave much leeway for creativity on my part. Not that I didn't get to exercise some, but I did my best to bring Kagura to life in the most authentic way possible."

"This was your second time working with Tsuruga-san, was it not?" Technically, it was the third time, but no one knew about the Heels. Kyoko took a steadying breath. Here we go. "It was."

"You seem to work with him quite a bit."

"I have enjoyed working with Tsuruga-san. He has been instrumental in helping me with several of my characters. He was actually the one to show me how to properly walk like a model when I was coming up with Natsu's character for Box R."

The crowd broke into laughter, and Mei hid her mouth behind her cards.

"Did he really!?"

Kyoko nodded seriously. "He's terrifying that way."

Mei laughed and gestured at her screen again, where the still of Ren putting Kyoko's slipper back on had appeared. "You don't seem very scared of him here, though."

Kyoko smiled and shook her head. "No, I suppose I wasn't."

"So," Mei scooted in a bit closer, "I see you're wearing the necklace you wore in the ad. Where did you get your necklace? It's not R'Mandy, is it?"

Kyoko touched Princess Rosa with her fingertips. "No, it isn't. I bought the chain for it at a 100 Yen shop and made the setting out of wire… but the stone was a birthday gift last year from Tsuruga-san."

The crowd gasped.

Mei raised her eyebrows. "Such a beautiful gift! So… I think we're all dying to know. Are you and Tsuruga-san… an item?"

Kyoko's chest was tight with anxiety, but she blushed prettily and wringed her hands in her lap. "We are, yes."

The crowd was instantly in a frenzy. Mei stood up out of her seat. "Quiet, please! There is so much tea to be had here!" The audience, and Kyoko, laughed. Mei sat back down after the crowd became less noisy. "Is this recent!?"

Kyoko kept her eyes trained on her lap. "We've been dating privately since June."

"And you're just now telling everyone!?"

Kyoko smiled shyly. "We didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about us, about what this is. So we kept it quiet for a while. But after the commercial aired, we figured maybe now was the right time to let everyone know."

Mei patted her knee. "Well, I think I speak on behalf of everyone here when I say congratulations to the two of you!" The crowd whooped and applauded its agreement, though Kyoko did note there were several distraught young women among their ranks.

"Thank you very much, Kurosugi-san."

They went to commercial, and Kyoko said her goodbyes to Mei Kurosugi and walked back through the curtain where she promptly fell to her knees in front of Jelly Woods like a newborn deer from the nerves. I did it. They know. Oh god, they know. The thought was as exhilarating as it was terrifying. Jelly pulled her to her feet, laughing. "Come on, you! Let's get you ready to go home."

When they got her street clothes back on, Ruto popped his head in. "Mogami-san, a crowd has gathered outside of the studio. We're going to have to be very careful."

Kyoko nodded and followed him. When they opened the door to go outside, it was less of a crowd of people and more of an ocean. Ruto took her by her hand and led her through the path that had been marked off by security so they could get to the car. Kyoko, who had been in a Ren crowd before, was still blown away by how many people had turned up. To her surprise, they cheered for her and wished her well. She waved to them and smiled politely until they finally reached the car. She slid into the back seat and heaved a huge sigh of relief when the door shut against the noise.

In LA, it wasn't a crowd of fans that waited for Kuon as he came out of the studio to leave for the hotel at the end of his day, but a crowd of journalists and paparazzi. While he was certainly upset that Koga had been injured earlier that day, he had actually been looking forward to this for a very long time.

"Tsuruga-san, can you comment on Kyoko Mogami's interview that aired today!? Is it true that you two are seeing each other?"

Yashiro stood back with a giant smile on his face. Oh, this is gonna be good.

Kuon beamed at the reporters. "I can confirm that I am dating the most beautiful girl in the world, yes."

"Do you consider this to be a serious relationship!?"

"If you mean do I fully intend to marry her at some point, then the answer is a resounding yes."

"Are you engaged!?"

"We will be when she decides she's ready."

"Are you missing her?"

Kuon gave them a sad smile. "That's like asking if a starving man misses food."

"What about Kana Kusunoki!?"

Kuon threw back his head and laughed. "Kana who?" By the time Kuon was done slathering them with the sweetness of his love for Kyoko, the journalists felt like they'd all have to make dentist appointments. But Kuon had gotten his intentions across perfectly; Kyoko was his forever.

When Kuon went to sleep that night, he felt more relaxed than he had in a long time and fell asleep quickly. He fell into a peaceful, deep sleep, full of dreams of his girl, and awoke well-rested and in high spirits. And then the phone rang.

It was a number he didn't recognize. He answered and sat up in bed. "Hello?"

"Ren. It's Leonard. I'm sorry, but filming is going to have to be halted. Koga's ankle is broken in two places."

Kyoko was eating dinner when her phone rang. She picked it up. "Good morning, Corn!"

"Kyoko-chan." She heard the somber tone of his voice and set her chopsticks down.

"Kuon, what's wrong?"

"Kimiko Morizumi broke Koga's ankle yesterday."

Kyoko's mouth fell open. "What!? How!?"

He told her about how he had seen her standing on the set. "She must have poured some water or something there. If I could prove it, I'd have her fired."

A sick feeling settled in the pit of Kyoko's stomach. "Kuon… if I tell you something, will you promise not to be mad?"

He heard the fear in her voice and did his best to stamp down on his inner demon. "I won't be mad, Princess." Not at you, anyway.

Kyoko took a breath. "Morizumi-san didn't get the job on Lotus because the first Momiji, Erika Koenji, made her drop out."

"Why should that make me angry, Princess?"

Kyoko swallowed. "She made her drop out after she caught her and her manager drugging me and trying to throw me off of the roof of the studio."

It was as if time had come to a stop for Kuon at that moment. He heard his own blood pounding in his ears. His teeth locked together painfully tight, and he suddenly felt very hot.

"Kuon?"

He heard her as if through a wall.

"Kuon. Please talk to me."

The quiver in her voice brought him back to his senses. "I'm here."

"Koenji-san got footage of it. It might be possible to ask her to show it to Herbert-san." When he didn't answer again, Kyoko shut her eyes tight. "Please, Kuon. Please don't do anything stupid."

"She tried to throw you off of a roof. She could have killed you. Does Yashiro know about this?"

She could hear the cold fury in his voice, and it scared her. "No," Kyoko lied. There was no reason to bring Yashiro into this if she didn't have to. She didn't want him to have to deal with Kuon's anger. She would warn him after she got off the phone with Kuon.

Kuon breathed deep. "I won't do anything violent. I promised you that I wouldn't."

"Thank you, Kuon. I'll be there in just a few more days, so just be patient, and we'll help each other through this. Okay?"

He sighed, remembering the purpose of his phone call. "I wasn't just calling to tell you that bitch broke Koga's ankle. Because his ankle is broken, they're halting filming for the next few weeks while it heals. They have decided to postpone Kotonami-san's flight."

Kyoko felt as though the floor had dropped out from under her. "What?"

He sighed and covered his eyes with his free hand. "It looks like we won't be seeing each other soon after all."

The dam that was holding Kyoko's feelings back broke, unleashing a torrent of tears that cascaded down her cheeks. "But we were so close…"

Kuon heard her sobs over the phone and bent his head. "I know, Princess. I know." He swallowed his own tears back; he had to be strong for her, even if he was a torrent of emotion at that moment. "I'm so sorry, Kyoko."

She sniffled and wiped her eyes on her shirt sleeve. "It's not your fault."

They spoke for a few more minutes, Kuon trying to offer what little comfort he could, and Kyoko giving him Erika Koenji's phone number so they could stop Kimiko Morizumi from hurting anyone else.

"I have to go, Kyoko-chan," he said gently. "We can't film, but I still have to go train with Cedric."

"Promise me you'll be careful. Don't let her hurt you, too."

"I will, Princess. She's not going to fucking get me."

They hung up, and Kuon got up from his bed and went to the kitchenette. He made a pot of coffee. A knock came at his door.

"Come in, Yukihito."

Yashiro entered to find his charge still in his pajama pants. "Ren, we're going to be late."

Kuon poured himself a cup of coffee and poured one for Yashiro.

"You and I need to talk."

Yashiro nodded and sat down at the bar. "Okay."

"I need time today to make a very important phone call around 4:00 PM. That's 8:00 AM in Tokyo, isn't it?"

Yashiro nodded. "Is something wrong with Kyoko?"

Kuon shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. "I need to call Erika Koenji."

Yashiro almost spit his coffee out. He set the cup down on the bar. Kuon was regarding him with cold, angry eyes.

"So, you did know."

Yashiro pushed his glasses up his nose. He had not gotten Kyoko's warning text; he had accidentally killed his phone after answering it without a glove the night before. "President Takarada and I agreed that it would not be a good idea to tell you. Am I correct in assuming that Kyoko told you because of what happened with Hiromune-san?"

"She did." Kuon leaned back against the sink and crossed his arms. "Did it ever occur to either one of you that I am a grown man, and what I choose to do is my business?"

Yashiro locked eyes with his charge. "If you're asking me to apologize, Ren, I will not. It is my duty as your manager to save you from yourself. President Takarada upped security regarding Kyoko-chan after it happened, and has been keeping tabs on Morizumi and her manager. Not that he really needed to. Erika Koenji is blackmailing them, and has told them that if they try to work in Japan, she'll release the footage. They'll never work in Japan again."

Kuon smiled his frigid gentleman's smile and nodded. "If I have my way, neither one of those murdering cunts will work in this country again, either." He finished his coffee and stalked off to the bathroom to shower. Yashiro set about ordering room service.

This is bad, he thought.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D Excuse me as I put myself back into Witness Protection after keeping our favorite couple apart for even longer! cackles maniacally Just three more chapters after this one, y'all, and Fairytale will conclude. It's been awesome writing this story, and I'm excited to see what you all make of the ending. I'm taking the next few weeks to not write anything. I'm outlining, researching, and editing, but no new content yet. I'm not sure when the next work will be out, because I'm not releasing anything until the entire thing is written. (I say that now. Watch me crave that dopamine hit from those reviews and start releasing early, because I'm a shameless addict.) Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Testing Angry Kuon is... fun. x3 ALL MY LOVE - BO