Chapter 20

BA DA DA BAAA! Went the trumpets as the newcomers entered the great hall to be announced. Kanae groused at the elaborate welcome and desperately wished that the ground would swallow her up before she was overtaken by the ridiculousness. It seemed to her that Kyoko had similarly strange tastes as her boss. Granted yes, Kanae knew her secret and there was a little bit of an explanation as to why the young woman was so strange, but come on... This? She groaned.

What made her evening worse or, not... was all of the calorie rich, sinfully delicious food Kyoko had prepared. She shuddered to think on how many miles she would have to run on the treadmill over the next week as she shoveled another chocolate mousse covered piece of double chocolate cake into her mouth eagerly. She was so glad that Kyoko decided not to pull her into another one of her bone crushing hugs, she wasn't sure she would have been able to contain the contents of her stomach if she had.

As the night rolled on and it came down to the final hours, Kanae was hit with the realization that it was Kyoko's birthday. Had Tsuruga-san not given her that rose, Kanae wouldn't have had a clue until they brought out the cake and there was no possible way she was going to be outdone by some silly, love-sick male. Her gamble was spot on. Kyoko loved the little makeup set. Kanae wasn't sure that she would, considering her heritage and abilities, but it was something that Kyoko had never thought to acquire for herself. She treasured it above all of her other gifts aside from the enormous rose Kuon had presented to her earlier. This had been the best birthday ever and she had never felt so cherished in all of her long life.

She spent her entire morning admiring the gifts that her friends and family had given her the night before.

"Farasha? I thought I would find you here." Huba Syd chuckled. "Don't you have that meeting for BoxR today?"

"Ahh... No Brother. That isn't until 9 am." She told him.

"Sister... It's already 10:15 am." He informed her.

Her eyes grew wide and panicked and in a swirl of silk and butterflies, she donned her acting persona and quickly left for her destination, leaving her brother to enjoy the comforts of her palace on his own. Huba Syd laughed to himself as he examined her little collection of gifts that she had put up for her viewing pleasure. He chuckled to himself when he noticed the top-heavy rose that Kuon had given her.

He sighed. "Perhaps I shouldn't be so hard on you, Kuon..." I know you would never intentionally harm her. He thought as he saw the little pink diamond in the center of the rose. "Hmmm..." I wonder how we can build on this. He pondered the possibilities. Yes, they are almost ready. He smirked as he thought of various ways to bring them closer. If they indeed loved each other, he had no problem with this particular pairing.

"So... Other than being late to your cast meeting for BoxR... How did your day go?" Kuon asked her as they lounged and enjoyed dinner together in her special place.

Kyoko looked up in thought. "Hmm... I think it went quite well. Everyone seemed so nice. I really expected them to be angry with me for being late. OH! By the way, thank you for the advice." She giggled. "I probably would have let it continue bothering me had you not told me." She whispered shyly.

Kuon smiled softly at the little Djinni sitting before him. "Well... I only say what is true and I had a feeling you could handle it."

She smiled brightly at him and laughed. "I don't think that Yashiro-san thought so. He seemed quite angry with you."

Kuon nodded and took another drink of his wine, noticing that his cup was almost empty. He thought about it absentmindedly, the cup instantly filled, he nodded in approval and took another drink without thinking about what had just happened. He just accepted it as something Kyoko must have done. "Thank you." He murmured.

She looked up and smiled, not realizing what he was thanking her for and nodded. "Oh... You're welcome." They continued their dinner and conversation as if nothing had happened.

She had a hunch about the small stone, but the story he told her as they drove Yashiro-san home captivated her. She decided that she would call it Princess Rosa as in the story. She wanted to make a fitting setting by hand for it. It seemed as though whenever she would make something without her magic or, fully by hand it would always turn out how she wanted it to. It may not be completely perfect, but it had the right feel to it. Like a sense of accomplishment came with doing it that way.

She smiled softly at what she had created as she examined the stone's setting. It was delicate, yet it seemed like a sturdy throne for the Princess to perch on. "Perfect..." She whispered as she scrutinized the work done thus far. "It's coming along nicely." She smiled softly once again and placed it gently in a little pouch, then put everything away that she had brought with her. She pulled on her Bo suit and left to get the guest as the AD had asked her.

No matter what she did, she just couldn't get her Natsu in order and now her co-stars were bringing back the memories of Shotaro's harsh treatment and words from when she had served him. Were all humans this way? She shook her head. No, Kuon wasn't. Maybe he was the exception to the rule. She felt her chest tighten and a sharp pain.

She frowned, disappointed in herself and the way things were going. This was bringing back so many horrible memories. She needed to hold onto her temper. The last thing that she needed was to do something completely rash. Her origins would be discovered and her brother would be disappointed. Kuon would be disappointed. She sighed. She supposed the best thing that she could do to make up her tardiness and being unprepared for the role, would be to refine Natsu like Amamiya-san had suggested and deliver her to the Director.

"Hmm, everyone likes her, even if she is mean. They want to either be her or, be her friend. So... undeniably she is popular. She definitely should be beautiful and graceful like a model... Hmm." She opened her phone and stared at it. "A model... OH!" Her eyes brightened then dimmed. "I don't know any models..." A little light flashed in her mind. "I do! I know a model!" She smiled gleefully at the idea and hit dial.

"Ren... I'm worried. She called for your schedule and suddenly hung up. I tried to call her back but her phone when straight to voice mail." Yashiro fretted.

She could take care of herself... Right? Kuon thought. "Maybe her battery died. I'll check to see if she's at my place. You did say that she mentioned waiting for me... Right?" Kuon reminded him. He looked up as he stepped out of the elevator and smiled. "You don't need to worry Yashiro-san. I found her."

Yashiro sighed in relief. "Alright... I'll see you tomorrow at 8 am." He then ended the call, holding in the biggest fan-girl squeal that had been trying to escape for the past few minutes. "Maybe I should start keeping track of Kyoko-chan's schedule." He nodded with determination. "Yes... I'll ask Sawara-san tomorrow while Ren's talking to Takarada-san." A mischievous grin crossed his lips as he pulled out a spare planner to use for Kyoko.