Chapter 2

"Well, here goes nothing." She murmured to herself as she stood before the employee entrance, not noticing the stares and the head turns. She relaxed her posture and walked her walk, the graceful fluid walk that she had used many times before as Setsuka Heel, as she strode through the doors and her raven locks flowed behind her like threads of perfectly spun silk in a breeze. She smirked and refused to hide it, the thought that the stylist did an excellent job flashed in her mind as the new hair tickled her. There would be many male hands that day, that itched to touch those soft shiny locks of the feline-like female.

She winced inwardly as she heard the conversation of the pair standing at the elevator. Thankfully they hadn't noticed her yet. "Ren, I have no idea why she's avoiding you and I have no idea where she was this morning. She only told me she had an appointment." He told the distracted male that was now openly staring at the female behind them.

"M-Mogami-san?" He managed to say her name without showing too much surprise, but it could be seen in his eyes. "Is that you?"

She nodded. "I'm preparing for Momiji." She told the pair as she stepped onto the elevator and the doors closed leaving the two men a little too stunned at her changes to react properly and move.

Less than ten minutes later she would be found in the LoveMe office with Yashiro trying to convince her to have dinner with Ren.

"He really doesn't eat healthy. I really don't know what I'm going to do with him." Yashiro commented.

Kyouko sighed and looked up at him from her current task. "Yashiro-san... Perhaps you would have better luck if you asked the girl he actually wants to spend time with."

"Would you do this little favor for me? Please?" He begged.

Kyouko snapped. "Yashiro-san, NO! I am nothing to him. I'm not a friend. I'm not a girlfriend. He has no interest in spending any time with me. I am not the girl he wants to be with. GO.. ASK.. HER!.. Please do not ask me to do something like this again. He would do better with someone he actually likes!" She could feel the pain start to well up again. She couldn't help but think that perhaps she shouldn't have come in today. "He... He doesn't see me that way. You and I both know that, so please stop forcing him to spend time with someone he'd rather not be with." She was having a very difficult time hiding it anymore.

Just as she felt like she was going to fall apart at any moment, Ruto entered to inform her that Lory Takarada wanted to speak to her. She nodded to him and stood. "I'm very sorry Yashiro-san, but he would probably be much happier if he spent time with the girl he gave the promise ring to." She murmured as she passed him and his eyes went wide with surprise.

"But...He.." He started and finished with the door closing. "He wants to spend time with you." Yashiro groaned in distress. "Who the hell told her he gave them a promise ring?" He felt angered at this new revelation. "Why doesn't he tell me these things?! I'm his manager!" He quickly made his way to his office. He needed to get to the bottom of this right now and the only other person he could ask probably wouldn't be very forthcoming.

Lory shook his head in sadness. "I'm very sorry Mogami-san, but I told you when you started in the LoveMe Section that you would be evaluated after one year to check your progress. You have made no effort to regain your capacity for Romantic Love. I'm afraid there's nothing I can do."

She could barely breathe. Was he firing her? She glanced down at the floor with a furrowed brow. "I understand Takarada-san. I... I will finish my duties and do what is needed." She said quietly. She turned to leave.

"I really don't think you do understand. In order for you to progress, you need to tell him. You can't keep it bottled up inside of you, it's effecting your performance negatively. You need to tell him so you can move on." He explained.

She looked up at him in surprise. "Takarada-san, I cannot do that. He has someone that he loves. I will acknowledge the relationship, but I will not make a fool of myself and throw myself at him like one of his brainless fan-girls. I may have been like that in the past when I had no self-respect, but I refuse to allow that to happen again. I refuse to allow myself to show that kind of weakness ever again."

Lory sighed. "What makes you believe that loving others is a weakness?"

"I'm not saying that loving others is a weakness. Letting yourself be used, is weakness. Letting yourself open your heart to someone that feels nothing for you, is a weakness. Lying to yourself and believing that there is even a hint of something in their heart for you, is a weakness." She paused. "Thinking that anyone could actually love me... is a weakness." She finished in a barely audible tone, fighting back the pain she was causing with the revelation.

Lory furrowed his brow in thought. "Mogami-kun... has no one ever told you that?" he asked with a tinge of sadness to his voice.

Her mind flashed an image of Corn and she froze for a moment. She shook her head. He probably wouldn't believe her if she told him and did Corn really know what he was saying when he said it? "No Takarada-san, no one."

A memory of Saena Mogami telling the world she didn't have children flashed across his memory. "No one at all?" It saddened him even more to see that this girl felt so very alone in this world. "Not ever?"

She shook her head once again. "Please don't ask me these things Sir. It's very painful to know with certainty that I'm not important enough for anyone to love. It's even more painful to think about it."

"What about the people that raised you or, those you grew up with?" He asked hoping there would be at least someone.

"I was only a way to keep their son tied to their family business for them and a maid for him. I wasn't good enough for him or, anyone else." She told him.

"Not even anyone at school? No friends?" He prodded gently.

She was starting to get frustrated. "NO! Not even at school! I was bullied! The boys treated me like I had some kind of contagious disease! Are you happy?! Now that you know how completely worthless I am? Please... Stop!" She now had those tears she was fighting, streaming down her cheeks. "I can say with confidence that no one loves me and it's not an instance of me feeling sorry for myself. Literally... no one loves me nor, have they ever!"

He watched with sadness as his #1 LoveMe girl left his office after being dismissed. How could it be that no one has ever said that to her? Not even Kuon? Why the hell did I even put them together if he wasn't going to make her feel loved or, even tell her? He sighed at these thoughts. Did he actually tell her he had someone else? His look darkened. I thought I read him correctly. How could I have been so wrong about all of this? About Kuon's feelings? His heart felt heavy at the revelation. "Well... I suppose I should do something about this." He picked up the phone and dialed.

RING... RING... RING...

"Yashiro... I need to see you and Ren in my office immediately... Yes, thank you." He hung up and poured himself a drink then lit his cigar. "I suppose I'll need to find someone that is a little more reliable to take care of this." He pondered.

Lory sighed as he thought carefully about what he was about to say to the pair in front of him. He wanted to protect her from this type of pain and rejection. Prevent her from having to go through it again and again as it seemed that she was destined to do; however, he didn't want to reveal too much to the men in his office.

"What did you want to talk about Boss?" Ren asked a little on edge. He was starting to get annoyed and had a hunch that this meeting had something to do with Kyoko or, at least Lory teasing him about her.

Lory closed his eyes and sat back in his seat. "You are no longer to make any requests for Kyoko-chan through the LoveMe Division. She'll be making her debut soon and will not have time for it." He fudged the truth a bit. He knowingly turned to Yashiro. "Yukihito-kun, if you would like to continue as her manager... Please follow her wishes regarding her free time." He gave him a pointed look. "I will discuss it with you after the meeting."

Yashiro nodded in agreement. He had a hunch that Lory was telling him to keep Ren away from her now, especially after her little outburst earlier before the meeting. "I understand Sir."

Ren just stared at them in confusion. "Is there something I should know about?"

Lory shook his head. "No Ren." His tone was just as short as his answer. "You are dismissed."

"That's it? You called me in here to tell me to leave Mogami-san alone?" He asked in frustration. He narrowed his eyes at the man. "She's dating someone now, isn't she?" He hissed. "It's that Fuwa asshole, isn't it?"

Lory slammed his hand on his desk and both men flinched. "That is none of your business or, your concern Tsuruga-san. You have other interests to tend to. I suggest you find your entertainment elsewhere! Not with someone you have no interest in pursuing! NOT... WITH... HER! She has been hurt enough and she doesn't need someone else using her! Now, you are dismissed!"

Kuon sat there with mouth agape, stunned. Lory had never, in all the time he had known him, lost his temper like that and yelled at him. He furrowed his brow and stared at the floor. What the hell was going on? He was making it sound like he was playing with Kyoko. He would never do anything like that. It hurt him for the people that he trusted to think that he would do something like that. He wasn't like that anymore. He had even stopped seeing other women as soon as he discovered his feelings for her, it just didn't feel right with anyone else. Sure it had been about half-way through Dark Moon, but he was like a freaking monk at this point. It was insulting that Lory even suggested that he was playing with Kyoko's heart.

Ren stood up and regained his composure. "Yashiro-san... I'm going to my photo-shoot. Will I see you there?"

Yashiro swallowed nervously and looked at Lory for instruction. Lory nodded. "Um... Yeah, I'll see you as soon as I'm done here." He said quietly and Ren left.

Lory took in a deep breath and released it. "Yukihito-kun... I want you to find out who this young woman is that Ren has been seeing without my knowledge and I want to know more than what Kyoko-chan knows. I want this situation fixed and soon. I'm tired of being in the dark with those two."

Yashiro sighed. "Sir, I have no idea who this new girl could be, but apparently she told Kyoko-chan that he gave her a promise ring. I don't know when or, how it happened. When he's not around me, he's with Kyoko-chan. Perhaps it was someone on the set of Tragic Marker or, from before he met Kyoko-chan." Yashiro suggested.

"Whomever it is, I would like to know. I would like to be able to minimize any gossip or, damage that may come with a revelation like this. I don't want to be finding out her identity through the tabloids." Lory explained to him.

"Yes Sir; although, I doubt he will tell me anything. He's usually so guarded with his personal information. Even with me. I can't imagine how Kyoko-chan even found out about it. Other than the fact that the girl must have told her herself." Yashiro lamented.

Lory nodded in agreement. "He is very tight-fisted with that information. I can't even think that he would have said anything to Kyoko-chan about it. Until we know what's going on... Keep him away from her. He seems to be under the impression that she's dating Fuwa-kun."

Yashiro furrowed his brow. "How on Earth would he come to that conclusion? She hates him."

Lory groaned a little and sighed as he pulled a folder from his desk. "I think that may be my doing. Seeing that you are her manager at this point, you need to see this anyway." He told him as he slid the stack of photos across the desk for Yashiro to look at.

Yashiro gasped. "You cannot be serious! Does that young man have no boundaries?" He ranted.

Lory certainly didn't expect that reaction. "Could you explain to me exactly who this young man is to her?"

Yashiro looked up at him and sighed. "I guess he could be classified as a stalker." He then went into detail and told Lory what she had told him and Ren almost a year ago and what he had observed since then.