Disclaimer: And the word itself implies enough...if you're not sure...check earlier chapters.
Authoress' Notes: Let me start off by saying...this is probably my only update before April 19th (the day of my final exam). Boo. But I have so much to do before the end of term and then so much to study. This chapter's shorter than usual...I know. But I really wanted to give you something to fill the large gap. The next thing is a warning. So...
WARNING: I am not a lyricist! I wish I was... but that doesn't change the fact that I'm not. So bear with the awful cheesiness I managed to concoct for you darlings. I think it gets the point across.
And to answer a question posed last chapter...the things in the story's summary WILL happen...they just need to be set up!
Kyoko's Fairytale is live in 3...2...1...ACTION!
Ren was trying very hard to remain cool and composed in light of Kyoko's announcement. But he was finding it incredibly difficult. He settled for asking her: "What?"
"It's a job just like any other. I have time for it, and it will be a good way to promote myself some more before the release of Mob Daughter - and I'm sure Sawara-san is thinking the exact same thing. It's not like I'd ever volunteer for the role, but it was offered to me," Kyoko explained with her pleading eyes. "And I'm not going to back out of a role just because his presence looms over it, I'm not going to be afraid of him - even if he explicitly asked for me. The more roles I take, the better I get, and the more I expand my experience."
Ren couldn't tell Kyoko that she couldn't take the job. What right did he have to do that? He couldn't even feign anger at her for trying to do this for revenge, because she wasn't - she just wasn't backing down. And he knew that logically, she was right - there was no reason not to take a role just because Sho was involved. And it's not like she would be in any actual danger. But he also knew that Sho surely had something planned.
"You're right, Kyoko-san," Ren told her. It was hard to do.
Kyoko, for her part, looked utterly shocked. She hadn't expected Ren to agree with her so quickly. Last time she had worked with Sho, he had been furious - though that had been when he thought she was still acting for revenge. This wasn't for revenge though. This was to prove to Sho that she wasn't intimidated by him and that she could act out her role in spite of his presence. This was for her career and her development. It was not to get back at him.
"It won't be fun, though," she added as an afterthought, her mouth twisting into a grimace at the thought of putting up with Sho for a whole day on a tiny music video set.
Ren smiled despite his misgivings about the job. That was much more like the reaction he had expected.
"I should probably call Sawara-san back to let him know that I accept before we resume taking pictures. Can I have my phone, Ren-san?" Kyoko asked, extending her hand.
Ren placed the phone in Kyoko's hand and watched her step away from the table to make her call.
"I'll find out when she's shooting - maybe you'll have some time in your schedule to go visit her on Sho's set," Yashiro suggested.
And once again, Ren was happy that his manager insisted on being too involved in his personal life.
"She accepted the job, didn't she?" Shoko asked.
"Did you really expect anything else to happen?" Asami answered Shoko's question with her own, putting her cell phone back in her pocket. She had just heard back from Kyoko's manager.
Shoko sighed and shook her head. "No. But I had hoped she would say no. I have a feeling that this won't go well."
"It can't really be any worse than the last time, can it?" Asami asked. "I mean the tension was absolutely palpable, and there were some speed bumps, but the job got done and the video turned out wonderfully."
"But last time, Kyoko got to play the role of someone who disliked Sho. This time around, especially with Sho acting how he is... it's going to get ugly."
The photo shoot was done and Kyoko was presently climbing out of Ren's car to head into the Daruma-ya.
"Kyoko-san, since the set for Mob Daughter is on my way to my first job of the day, I'll come pick you up," Ren said while Kyoko still held the passenger side door open. They had dropped Yashiro off first again.
Kyoko nodded and offered her thanks for the ride home, shutting the door behind her.
Ren watched to make sure she was safely inside before driving home, thoughts of Kyoko and Sho on set together for the singer's music video racing through his mind.
Similar thoughts were also bouncing around Kyoko's head. After talking to Sawara, she had learned that she would be filming the music video this weekend since her schedule permitted it. Sho's manager would send her a copy of the song before then so she could get a feel for it. Her determination to see this through had only grown in the hours since she had made her decision. She would act her best, do the job to perfection, avoid Sho when she could, and show him that he couldn't scare her or trap her or whatever he was trying to do.
"Kyoko-chan?"
Kyoko left the world inside her head and looked at the okami of the Daruma-ya, who was calling her name.
"Sorry," Kyoko said with a small bow, "I guess I'm just a little distracted by work right now."
"That's okay, Kyoko-chan. I was just going to tell you that someone stopped by earlier today wanting to see you," the okami explained, a smile on her face for Kyoko's cute behaviour.
"Who was it?" Kyoko asked curiously. Everyone she knew who would want to see her had her cell phone number and would have had the sense to call her first.
"He left a business card," the okami said, digging around behind the counter. "Ah. Here it is."
She handed the card to Kyoko, who immediately began to examine it. It said it was for a Harada Tsutomu. And apparently, he was a "journalist" for Celebrity Beat,one of the big magazines that liked to report on what celebrities were doing - often inaccurately. What could he want from her?
Maybe he had heard how she was Ren's kouhai and he wanted to interview her to get some information on Ren, one of the most scandal free stars in the business...
Well, that wasn't going to happen.
Kyoko knew that it was rude, but she tore the business card up anyways.
"If he comes back," Kyoko told the okami, "just to tell him I'm not interested in talking to him."
And then she trooped to her room to get some much needed rest after the long day of picture taking. She had another long day ahead of her tomorrow.
"That was great, Kyoko-chan."
Kyoko smiled and hopped off the motorcycle she was currently balanced on. The opening scene of the drama was going to be serious and a little dark, with a man getting shot for trying to cheat another man in a deal - though you could only see the figures of the men and not their faces, keeping their identities secret. Some of her scenes would come right after that to supply a necessary contrast.
Director Shingai was planning to shoot everything as close to sequential order as possible, wanting the story to unfold for the actors in the same way it would unfold for their viewers. So Kyoko had had to go outdoors and be filmed riding her motorbike down the street outside a nearby school (where they would be filming some scenes) several times from different angles. Then, they had filmed her pulling into a parking space at the school a few times, again from different angles. And finally, they had filmed the last bit.
Kyoko had had to use her feet to prop herself and the bike up while she had straddled it. Then she had taken off her helmet, under which her hair had been tucked, and had shaken out the slightly tangled mess, a small smile on her face. She had nailed it on the first try, and Shingai had been happy with how the scene looked in playback, so they would be moving on.
The next scenes in the story were to be shot inside the school, but there were still classes going on, and the director had only obtained permission to use the building when the school day was actually over. So they would be filming those scenes later on when most of the students would be headed home. Instead, they moved on to a scene where Kyoko's character was headed home after a day of classes.
"Saki! Wait up!"
Saki stopped walking and turned around on her heel to see who was calling her.
"You always leave so fast after classes, Saki-chan," the other girl complained, bending over to catch her breath.
Saki laughed. "Or maybe it just takes you too long to get ready after class, Miki-chan. If you didn't talk to all the boys, you would be out quicker than me," she answered.
Miki stuck her tongue out and looked like she was about to retort when the sound of a car honking filled the air.
Saki sighed upon hearing it, then turned away from her friend to face the parking lot.
When her eyes landed on the sleek, black car, she groaned. When the door opened and a man stepped out, she groaned again.
"Who's that?" Miki wondered breathlessly.
"Saki! Get your ass in gear!" the man called.
"You know him?" Miki asked, now gripping Saki's arm tightly.
"Yeah," Saki answered her, a frown on her face. Then she raised her voice to shout at the approaching man. "I brought the bike today, moron. I don't need a ride home."
"That's no way to talk to your brother," the man scolded, having reached her. "And we already picked up your bike this afternoon. Now get in the car - and we're not going home. Ah, and who's this charming lady?"
"That lady, brother dearest, is my friend Miki, and she needs to get going or her mother will kill her for being late," Saki said.
"Oh shit," Miki cursed. "Bye, Saki," she shouted as she ran away.
Saki's brother laughed. "She's cute," he said.
"And she's off limits," Saki warned, walking past him and heading for the car. "In fact, every girl at this school is off limits. You're not going to ruin what I have here."
"Saki, you need to be more proud of your family. You shouldn't be so ashamed. The designer clothes you're wearing right now are courtesy of the family business."
"It's not a business," Saki retorted, climbing into the car. "And it's not that I'm not grateful for what I have. I just want my life to be normal - I don't want my friends to be terrified of me."
"Normal's overrated," her brother answered her.
Saki punched his arm.
"You're clueless," she said, slumping down into her seat and turning her head to look out the window.
"You punch really hard, Kyoko-chan," Kijima complained, rubbing the sore spot on his arm. He had been playing the, as of yet nameless, brother in the last sequence of scenes with Kyoko.
Kyoko smiled sheepishly and promptly apologized.
"It's fine, Kyoko-chan," he laughed, waving off her apology. "I'm just teasing you."
Kyoko smiled more brightly. Kijima was always so friendly with everyone and so lighthearted that it was hard not to.
"Alright. The school day is over in ten minutes, so we can start shooting some of the scenes we passed over. It'll take us a while to set up the cameras and lighting, so everyone has a forty-five minute break," Shingai announced, already motioning for the camera and lighting crews to move into the school building that they had just been filming outside of. The principal had agreed to have one of the classrooms emptied of students a few minutes early for the show's use so that filming wouldn't have any delays once classes were all over.
Kyoko decided that she would rest up in her dressing room for the break after seeing if she needed any makeup touch ups. So, Kyoko made the two minute walk back to the studio and approached her makeup artist, who told her that her makeup was holding out fine. Then, Kyoko moved into her dressing room where she plopped down gracelessly onto the small couch there.
What could she do for half an hour?
She didn't need to review the script. She didn't have that many lines. The scenes they would be filming now were short and sweet, without much dialogue. They were supposed to serve as a sort of montage to introduce the character of Saki, show how very normal a life she was leading, and oppose the carefree, fun loving, sweet disposition she gave off at school with the violent death that would begin the drama.
So what else was there to do?
She reached for the purse she had left in the room to see if she had been smart enough to pack a book or magazine. She opened the bag and began rifling through the contents - that was when her hand closed around the brown envelope that had been waiting on the doorstep of the Daruma-ya this morning when she had walked out to climb into Ren's car. Inside the envelope was a copy of Sho's new single.
Kyoko knew she should listen to it before going to the filming in three days. And she did have the free time now and nothing better to do. She might as well make the most of it and just get the task done.
She opened up the envelope and let the CD slide out onto her lap. It was in a simple case with one word written across the front cover: "Gone".
Kyoko had a CD player in her bag. She popped the music she had last listened to out of the machine, and slipped the new CD in. Then she shut the top, slipped on her headphones, and pressed play.
The gorgeous music that filled her ears had her breathless. The first time through she didn't even hear the words of the song because she was so entranced by the beautiful melody. She pressed play again when the song finished, and this time, she actually listened to the words as they started:
I didn't know when this all began
That you were my light, the meaning before the end
You were always there, forever shining
It felt like my life was finally aligning
And then you were gone
Gone from my life
Out of my reach
And out of my sight
But I'm keeping hope
You propel my heart on
You're still my joy
Even though you're gone
These days seem so bleak and grey
You left my world empty, never thought I'd see that day
I screwed up, I know I broke your heart
But could you give us a chance? Let's restart
Because you're gone
Gone from my life
Out of my reach
And out of my sight
But I'm keeping hope
You propel my heart on
You're still my joy
Even though you're gone
Why did you have to leave me?
Why couldn't you first free me?
Why did I have to lose you?
I know my mistakes now, I'm going to make things right
I'm going to win your heart back
I'll earn your trust from scratch
I won't be stupid this time
I'll never let you go, not without a fight
Because you were gone
Gone from my life
Out of my reach
And out of my sight
Now that you're back
I won't let you go
You're my baby, my angel
My future is your's
Because you were gone
Gone from my life
I couldn't bear it
It caused me such strife
Now that you're back
I won't let you go
You're my baby, my angel
My future is your's
Kyoko didn't like it, but the words touched her heart as overdone as the whole concept of the song was - boy doesn't appreciate girl until it's too late, boy recognizes his mistake, and then wants her back... and in this case gets her back. But combined with the beautiful, catchy melody... She already knew this song would be Sho's next number one. She pressed play again.
She was indulging in the song when she had a moment of insight.
"Oh hell no!" she yelled in a reflex reaction, her little grudges coming out in full force.
She had just realized what role she would be playing in Sho's music video and what it would surely entail.
Kyoko's yell echoed throughout the studio.
Or at least it echoed far enough down the hall that Ren was able to hear it from his dressing room. He had just arrived a few minutes ago and had been planning on going to visit Kyoko under the pretense of asking her how her scenes had gone - in reality, he just wanted to see her. He left his room and walked quickly down the hall to Kyoko's, where he knocked, waiting to be allowed entrance. He couldn't just walk in - she might be changing.
"Come in."
Her voice was weak, and Ren opened the door and immediately scanned the room for Kyoko, finding her curled up on the small couch. She had lost whatever anger had prompted her to yell. Now, she just looked pale.
He moved quickly to her side. "Kyoko-san? Are you alright?" he asked while he placed a hand on her forehead. But she wasn't warm. She was ice cold. Even Ren, clueless as he was about maladies, knew that meant she didn't have a fever. But what was wrong with her then?
"He set me up," she mumbled. "I mean, I expected him to have something planned... but not this."
"What are you talking about, Kyoko-san?" Ren asked her, trying his very best to interpret her words.
And then Kyoko's eyes landed on him and it was like she was just realizing that Ren was there. She blinked once, and then buried her head into the couch.
"I'm dumb. So dumb that I deserve this. It never even occurred to me... because seriously, what the hell is he thinking?" Kyoko's words were muffled by the couch cushion.
Ren was still confused. What "he" was she talking about?
"Kyoko-san?" he began again.
Kyoko didn't wait for him to finish his question. She lifted her head up and pointed miserably at the CD player on the floor. "Listen," she said, and buried her head again.
And so Ren listened.
And when he was done, he was not happy in the least. He was unhappy with Sho for his stupid song. He was unhappy with himself for not insisting that Kyoko not take the role. And he was very unhappy that Kyoko and Sho would undoubtedly be filming some sort of loving scene together for the end of the music video. Unless he managed to convince her to back out now. It couldn't be too hard right? Now that she actually knew what she would have to do...
"Kyoko-san," he began slowly, cautiously, worried that his words might upset her. "I know you said you weren't going to let Sho intimidate you, but you really don't have to take this role if you don't want to. You don't have to act out love with him."
And then Kyoko did the strangest thing. At least in Ren's opinion.
She laughed.
"What is love?" she asked. "I still don't know. Thanks to him. He pretty much shattered whatever ideas of love I had. Now... I still have no idea. So much time spent in the Love Me section and I'm still clueless..."
"I'm still going to do it," she suddenly told Ren. "I won't give Sho the satisfaction of seeing me quit. But more importantly, I definitely won't give up. I'm going to try to act out this role with all my heart... and I'll learn to act out love if I have to. Someone told me once that to become a true actor, I have to show many more people many kinds of acting, and that every opportunity matters and will help me polish my skills. And if I can learn to like a character I'll be playing opposite Sho, even if my character ultimately loves Sho, or his character, or whatever - then I've definitely improved."
Kyoko was always surprising Ren. This time though, her words weren't all that shocking. Ren knew the motivation Kyoko had to improve and succeed. She took on every task with her whole heart and didn't give up. It also comforted him that she had reinforced once again that her primary motive for doing this wasn't Sho. Obviously since it was Sho's music video, he affected her decision in some way - but ultimately, Kyoko was treating this like she would treat any other challenge.
"You'll be able to do it, Kyoko-san," Ren told her confidently, "as long as you put your mind to it and give it your full effort I'm sure you'll succeed."
"Thanks, Ren-san," Kyoko said. She was truly grateful for his faith in her... because she was lacking in faith in herself. Could she act out realistic portrayals of brokenheartedness and love? And more importantly, could she do it with Sho?
She started humming to herself as she mused. Then she smacked herself in the head.
"Stupid, actually decent, catchy song," she grumbled, shaking her head. She had been humming the music to Sho's single.
Ren just watched her and then laughed. She looked like she was trying to shake the memory of the song out of her head.
"What?" she asked, grumpily, still upset with herself for humming Sho's song of all things.
"It's nothing, Kyoko-san. Don't worry about it," Ren told her, a smile on his face as he was still amused by the brief scene he had just witnessed. Still, feelings of frustration and anger were simmering just under the surface of that smile.
He knew that Sho's song was about Kyoko and it upset him to no end. Apparently Sho was trying to win Kyoko back every bit as much as Ren was trying to prevent that from happening and win her heart himself.
Thankfully, Kyoko didn't realize the song was about her, or else surely this would not be her reaction.
But what would she do if she found out?
"Saki-chan! Aren't you excited?"
"Sure," Saki said, looking at the girl sitting on top of the desk next to her's. Then after a second's pause she added,"What exactly am I excited for, Miki-chan?"
"The first day of school. The start of a new year. The chance to reinvent yourself. Take your pick!" Miki exclaimed.
"One day you're going to spontaneously combust from overexcitement," Saki commented, earning a light smack from Miki.
"Oh shut up!" Miki said through her laughter.
Saki was laughing too.
"Hey, Saki-chan!" a boy called out.
Saki lifted her hand in greeting and offered him a smile.
She didn't see the boy sitting in the back of the classroom. The one who was wearing a leather jacket over his uniform. The one who was staring at her.
Saki was sitting at a table in the cafeteria.
"How was your vacation, Saki-chan?" a girl sitting across from her asked.
"Oh. It was good," Saki answered guardedly, turning her attention to her food.
"What did you do?" another girl sitting with her asked.
"Nothing special," Saki answered. "Some shopping, some relaxing. The usual."
"Oh, me too!" someone chimed in.
"While I went to America," the first girl said.
As everyone's attention turned to this girl, a tall, dark haired boy walked past their table, his gaze clearly fixed on Saki. No one noticed.
"That's a wrap. Good work everyone. I'll see you all here tomorrow," director Shingai announced when they nailed the last scene in one take.
Kyoko breathed in deeply and then let the air rush from her lungs. Next, she yanked the wig off her head and sighed happily. "So much better!" she exclaimed in relief.
The heating in the school building had been on the fritz - in that it was unable to be turned down - and her scalp had been getting progressively hotter under the wig with every minute they had spent inside the building. She hadn't complained once, but that didn't change the fact that it felt so good to get it off her head.
Everyone who was in the cafeteria with her laughed heartily at her actions.
"Kyoko-san?"
"Sorry. I'll be out in a second," Kyoko called out to Ren through the closed door of her dressing room. She was just slipping on her own shoes.
She moved to the door quickly after that and then opened it slowly, wary of hitting Ren in case he was badly stationed outside of it.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Kyoko said, bowing her head a little.
"It's no problem at all, Kyoko-san," Ren answered her, already turning to walk down the hallway and out to where his car was parked.
"Where's Yashiro-san?" Kyoko asked as they walked, suddenly noticing the absence of Ren's manager.
"Oh. He had to head back to the agency earlier to pick up some files and take care of a few things," Ren told her.
"He always seems to be doing something. Though I can definitely understand where the workload comes from. He is your manager after all," Kyoko mused.
"And what does that mean?"
"Oh. I meant nothing by that except that you have so many jobs and interviews and appearances that Yashiro has a lot to manage and keep track of," Kyoko was quick to explain.
"I guess he does," Ren said, smiling at her. And though the smile seemed genuine and innocent, it unnerved her - it made her heart beat inside her chest at a rapid pace.
'Okay. He doesn't scare me anymore. That smile of his isn't the one that scares me. So what's going on?' she asked herself.
Authoress' Notes: If you're on Twitter and you want to know projected update times, what I'm working on, or just what I'm up to, add me at lifebykristina.