I swear to God this story started out as a funny one-shot, but I find that I can never do short stories like that because I always enjoy creating worlds for these characters and watching them grow and that always takes more than one chapter XD That being said I had to split this into two chapters because it was running long. So the title of this chapter would be something like "the Prelude to the Ball"
Once again thanks so much for the amazing feedback! Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter Seven
"No good" Kyoko's lower lip trembled. "It's no good"
"We haven't been to every store yet! Get up already!" Kanae growled, trying to pull her friend up from the depths of her despair. She would have had an easier time if she were fighting, single-handed, against the armies of Alexander the Great. "It was your idea to come shopping and it's not even closing time yet! You can't give up after only a couple of hours. I don't like shopping either but shouldn't you show some sort of stamina, as a woman? I thought you were stronger than this!"
"Moko-saaaan" Kyoko wailed and Kanae couldn't help but wrinkle her nose in disgust at how pathetically puppy-like she looked in that moment. "I'm so tired and we haven't been able to find anything in my price range!"
Kanae hated puppies. They were so needy and clingy and they stole so much of your energy, that's why she'd never let any of her brothers and sisters have one. No matter how much they begged. Still, she supposed no matter how much she admonished her best friends behaviour, Kyoko wouldn't snap out of it. So she swallowed her impatience (which took no small effort) and decided to take an approach that was more Kyoko-friendly.
"So will you give up? Go to the ball in rags like a Cinderella who has no fairy Godmother?" She stood over her best friend, crossing her arms and giving her best challenging facial expression.
Kyoko burst into tears.
"YOU'RE RIGHT! YOU'RE RIGHT MOKO-SAN! WHAT MUST I BE THINKING? THIS IS THE REAL WORLD! THERE'S NO COSTUME OR MAKEUP DEPARTMENT! OUT HERE I'M JUST PLAIN OLD KYOKO"
One would think that Kotonami Kanae would be used to such outbursts from her Love Me comrade, but she felt that it was something she would never get used to. For someone, like me, who lacks that 'significant emotion', she sure is an emotional girl. Kanae thought as she buried her head into her hand, trying to ignore the confused and shocked looks from passers-by. The next thing she knew she was dragging her friend off to the nearest ice cream parlour, practically throwing her into her seat and demanding that she not move, leaving a thoroughly confused Kyoko in her wake. Five minutes later she returned with the two largest hot-fudge sundaes they served. Kanae, with no small degree of relief, noticed that Kyoko had at least composed herself and started thanking her in earnest.
"You better enjoy eating this. This is a dire sacrifice on my part- to eat so much ice cream. But it will last a long time so we'll have time to talk. This plain-old-Kyoko business, what nonsense is this? I'm running out of patience with you. If you continue to think of yourself as plain and boring, then that's how the world will always see you."
Kyoko looked up at her best friend (mouth full of vanilla flavoured deliciousness) with tears still in the corners of her eyes "Moko-san..."
"It doesn't matter if you go to the party dressed in the most common of clothes, with a make –shift mask. It's about the aura which you project. If you think to yourself that you'll always be a commoner, then a commoner is all you will ever be seen as! That is why I, Kanae Kotonami, will never be confused as a person with a poor background; I was born to be a wealthy and much respected actress!"
Kyoko looked at her friend with admiration in her eyes, her previous troubles briefly forgotten. No matter what the situation, Kanae never ceased to amaze her. Her strong sense of work ethic and her belief in fighting for what she wants knew no bounds. Kanae truly was, in Kyoko's eyes, a young woman with a rich ladies spirit. It was inspiring to see.
"And you!" Kanae pointed at her and Kyoko instantly sat upright, as if she were being spoken to by a commanding officer. "You will go to that party tonight, regardless of if we find a dress or not, you're good at craftsmanship so you can easily make a beautiful mask, and you will go and show the world that YOU, Kyoko Mogami, are an actress of high calibre- one that was made to respected."
"YES! I will-" Kyoko saluted and then froze, the look on her face akin to sudden horrifying remembrance. Her features darkened and she looked down at the ground. Kanae's anger instantly dissipated and worry, as well as fear, took precedence.
"N- Now what this? What's the matter?"
"Moko-san" Kyoko murmured so darkly it seemed for a moment that she'd been possessed by a demon devoid of any happiness and Kanae leaned back in her chair, flinching.
"Aiie! What's with that way of talking? What the hell is going on in your brain?!"
Kyoko set down her spoon for a moment, frowning. Suddenly her face wasn't exaggerated into an expression of despair, darkness and death. The look on her face now scared Kanae more than anything she'd ever seen. It was a look of true sorrow, a look of confusion and pain.
"Even though I know I will have a mask on, and I will change my persona to one of an elegant young lady, I need to look different. Just for this one night, I have to make sure that I don't look like myself. I need to look completely different to Kyoko Mogami or he... Tsuruga-san...how will I..."
"What does Tsuruga-san have to do with it?" Kanae asked with a raised eyebrow, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer. She was sure it would give her a headache. Those two, they have such a weird relationship, has something happened between them?
Kyoko froze; the exaggerated looks once more back on her face.
"AH! N- Nothing! I meant nothing. Really I say such stupid things that I don't mean!" Kyoko laughed a ridiculously fake and forced laugh which made Kanae frown with suspicion. "Let's just eat this wonderful ice cream that you bought me out of the kindness of your heart!" Kyoko then proceeded to shovel mouthfuls of the sundae into her mouth at such a fast rate that her hand started to blur.
"Wait stop if you do that-" Kanae cried out holding her hand up to wave for Kyoko's attention, but it was too late, Kyoko's head collapsed onto the little cafe table and she clutched it in pain. "-you'll get an ice cream headache..."
"Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww"
After getting some medicine to relieve Kyoko of her brain-freeze, the pair decided they'd had enough of shopping and, after buying a few materials needed to make a mask and add some embellishments to one of Kyoko's dresses to make it look more fantasy-based, they went back to the Darumaya for a rest. Kyoko hoped that they'd be able to get the outfit done on time. The party started at nine PM and she'd met up with Kanae immediately after she'd finished filming the final scenes for Box-R, so she only had a few hours to get completely ready.
Whilst they had time to themselves somewhere quiet, Kyoko also plucked up the courage to tell Kanae all that had been happening with the flirting lessons and her new drama.
"Ah I see, so it's like that is it?" Kanae stated after she'd revealed all.
Kyoko nodded sadly, attaching some jewels to the mask with her hot glue gun.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it before, but with everything happening with Box-R ending and then worrying about this new role, everything seemed to pile up and I was washed away by all of those events. Are you mad?"
Kanae rested an elbow on Kyoko's little bedroom table and put her hand on her cheek idly. "No, no I'm not mad. It's understandable; the world of showbiz can be like that. But there is something I don't understand. Why does it matter so much that Tsuruga-san doesn't recognise you? He said that he would only flirt unless he knew it was you. So why would you want to make it harder for him to notice you?"
Kyoko clenched the hot glue gun tighter and screwed up her face in concentration, trying to hide the fear that gripped her chest.
"Kyoko...I promise you there is no way that I would flirt with a woman unless I absolutely knew it was you."
Why? Why would he have said that to her in such a sincere way? Why had she even asked about other women flirting with him? What did it matter? Tsuruga-san didn't ever flirt with other women; he was always kind and polite to them, nothing more. So why had it worried her so much? It was all too confusing. Her heart and mind were both hurting just thinking about it. But no matter how much she tried to deny it...
"Although I must say" Kanae continued trailing off into her own thoughts "the way he said that he wouldn't flirt with another, if he so earnestly believes that he would be able to spot you amongst all the others in disguise, isn't that a sign that Tsuruga-san lov-"
Kanae stopped, of rather was forced, to stop her sentence in its tracks- for Kyoko had thrown her hands across her mouth (dropping the hot glue gun in the process) to prevent her from saying more.
"Please! Please don't say another word. I beg of you, you must never finish that sentence. Because once it's out there- it makes it real. And what you were going to say, it cannot even be made a possibility. It's something that can never even be thought of."
Kyoko slowly removed her hands from Kanae's mouth and slunk back into a sitting position, picking up the hot glue gun subconsciously. Kanae watched her, her eyes widening with awe.
"Oh. I see. That's why you wish to trick him is it? You want to make him believe you're someone else so that you'll see him flirt and break his word. That way you'll be able to convince yourself that what you've been seeing with your own eyes isn't true. That's really stupid you know."
Kyoko looked up startled and noticed Kanae looking at her with a deep frown.
"I'm probably not the best person to talk to about this, but you know we're going to have to graduate from the Love Me section eventually. Isn't that the point of it? To regain the emotion that we've lost? You can't be scared of it forever."
There was a long silence where Kyoko seemed to process what Kanae was saying. Kanae watched her friend, the range of emotions that flickered across her face. It was always interesting to watch her thoughts processing. Eventually, however, Kanae got lost in her own thoughts.
So it's come to this. I always thought Tsuruga-san harboured feelings that went beyond a Sempai-Kohai relationship. But Kyoko's feelings, how long have they been there? She hides them so well. That girl...she's going to be a remarkable actress.
"I just don't understand it. It can't possibly be true- there's no way. But, if it's a possibility, why me? He could have anyone he wanted. Why me?"
Kanae flicked the orange-tressed actress squarely on the forehead and Kyoko shrieked in shock, suddenly very much reminded of Hizuri-san. Kanae couldn't help but chuckle at the stupid look on her face, before settling into a more severe stare.
"Good. I see I've snapped you out of such thoughts. Firstly you don't give yourself enough credit and that really pisses me off so please stop with the self-deprecating thoughts. And secondly it's really not worth trying to guess the how's and why's of life." Kanae's expression softened and she smiled at Kyoko gently, her prideful mask removed just for a moment. "If the universe made sense, then the two of us- such different people on paper- couldn't possibly be friends. Yet here we are right?"
Kyoko could help but beam at that. "Right Moko-san. Of course! The best of friends!"
The two once again settled into a silence as they each disappeared into their thoughts. Kyoko concentrated on sewing beads onto the mask and setting it to dry before she moved on to embellishing one of her nicer dresses, although the while keeping track of the time.
"Now that I think about it, something else confuses me." Kanae begun before grumbling under her breath "and you know what? This is getting annoying; this is why I don't like getting involved in other people's problems. It's just headache-fodder."
"Um... Moko-san, what are you talking about?"
"I'm just thinking it's really weird that the President allowed you to accept this romance role. From what I remember, you told me that he didn't want Tsuruga-san to play Katsuki in Dark Moon because he believed him to be too inexperienced romantically- although I find that hard to believe. Didn't the President say anything about it to you?"
Kyoko shook her head. "No actually, although now that you mention it- it is strange- that he would be willing to allow a Love Me member perform a romance role in an upcoming drama. It's very odd."
Before they could muse on it further, a knock on the door jumped them out of their thoughts and before either of them could react, a small pretty woman, with large round eyes and doll-like curls, burst into the room. Both Kanae and Kyoko could only look up at the woman in shock, Kanae in confusion, Kyoko in baffled recognition.
"J-Jelly Woods-san?"
What the hell kind of a name is that?! Kanae thought staring between the two and feeling completely and utterly bewildered.
"Ah-ha! Kyoko-chan! That nice lady let me come up to visit you; she was super busy with customers though so she said she was sorry that she couldn't accompany me! So this is where you live?! It's so little and cute, just like you!" Jelly looked around the room with childlike awe, examining all the surroundings intensely and admiring under her breath. She noticed Kanae and immediate her eyes widened and she sat down right in front of her. Kanae scooched backwards, trying to get away from the incredibly hyperactive person in front of her. "This must be your friend Kanae Kotonami! I'm pleased to meet you! I'm Jelly Woods, I was Kyoko-chan's makeup artist for a role a while ago. Kyoko-chan has told me so much about you! You're so pretty!"
"T-t-thank you" Normally Kanae was able to keep her cool with people's compliments, but really she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the personality of the young woman before her.
"Jelly-san, I know this might seem rude to ask but, why did you come to see me?" Kyoko asked somewhat distantly, as if she couldn't believe that Jelly was really there, in her little bedroom.
Jelly perked up, her golden curled fluttered around her as she turned to face Kyoko. Her eyes glanced down the mask in Kyoko's hand and her brain seemed to click, or rather she remembered what exactly she was there for.
"My Darling sent me for you!"
"The President sent you?! Why?"
Why? Why does she call the President 'Darling'?! That's weird! Why is the showbiz world full of people like this? It's exhausting. Kanae shook her head in disbelief.
"Why? Isn't that obvious?" Jelly winked and pulled three bags over to her "I'm here to be your fairy godmother silly! I've got to make sure you're ready for the ball! Kanae-chan are you going too? Can I dress you?"
Kanae grimaced at her name being used with such a girly honorific but decided to quickly reply before Jelly got any ideas "actually I'm filming on location tomorrow so I'll be unable to attend."
Jelly looked almost heartbroken for a split second before brightening up and turning towards Kyoko, who seemed to be wearing a look that resembled a brain dead zombie.
"Jelly-san, why did the President send you here?" Kyoko asked and Jelly frowned.
"I already told you silly! I'm here to make sure you're ready for the Masquerade Ball tonight! And we don't have much time to prepare so come on! Let's get moving!" She said and began pulling things out of her bag at a rapid speed. Kanae took her chance once she spotted it.
"Well it seems as if you're busy and I don't want to interrupt anything! Let me know what happens Kyoko, and I'll see you when I get back from filming! Goodnight!" And before Kyoko could reply, she'd taken flight out of the room.
As Kanae walked home that evening, the sun low and golden, the streets of Tokyo loud and bustling as people commuted home after a long day of work, she was once again lost in a cloud of thoughts. Just what was going to happen with Tsuruga and her best friend? Deep down inside she felt a sense of worry. If Kyoko really did graduate the Love Me department- what would that mean of their friendship? She didn't want to think that she might lose Kyoko...
Idiot! That's stupid! She thought, snapping herself out of such depressing go-nowhere thoughts with a violent shake of her head. Although one thing I am most definitely certain of...that President. I'm sure he has an ulterior motive.
Just exactly what was the President up to?
Ahhh I know, no Ren-Kyoko goodness in this chapter. But I felt that Kyoko seriously needed some girl time to make sense of things, and who better than Moko-san to deal a swift kick of reality-check? It's all about character development people! And just what exactly IS the President up to? Plot development too?! Say whaaat?!
By the way did I mention how much I love writing Kanae? I love writing all of these characters to be honest!
PPS: Next chapter will be the ball! I will work hard to make sure that it's my best writing, so please continue to support me! (God I'm starting to sound like Kyoko now) Reviews are love! Until the next time!