Chapter 7

She flopped down on the fluffy sofa, that she absolutely knew she would have a problem getting out of later. Riku and Sora had her exhausted. She was now in her seventh month and Kuu and Juli were living just down the street from her in her little gated community. Really, they didn't have to do this for her. She wanted to do all of this on her own. She could do all of this on her own. Couldn't she? She sighed. Probably not.

They had bought her a three bedroom, two bathroom home with a chef's kitchen, study and large back yard for the boys to play in. The community was very safe and the schools in the area were excellent. LME was a within walking distance, maybe less than twenty minutes, and she wouldn't need to travel far for grocery shopping.

She honestly didn't know what she was going to do after the boys were born. She knew she would have to start over. Her credit for Momiji, Natsu, and Mio were now Top Secret information. She wasn't sure if she could actually use them, if Takarada-san would make the interested directors sign an NDA before they discovered who she was, to keep her secret. Most likely not. Well, at least she had all of the work she's done recently under her proverbial belt. Maybe she wouldn't need that. No, she definitely didn't need that. She started from scratch when she came from Kyoto, she did it again when she came to LME and without help. She could do it again. At least this time she had people on her side. She wasn't doing this alone anymore. She had Kanae, Chiori, Ruto, Lory, Ten, Kuu and Juli. She most certainly wasn't alone this time. She had more people in her life than she knew what to do with. It almost felt like they were constantly hovering over her. The constant doting was almost stifling and it was certainly something that she'd never in her life experienced.

Ah, the Braxton Hicks decided to make their appearance today. She giggled at the little muscle spasm and felt one of her boys kick. She lay on her sofa, with her shirt off her belly, watching the little movements of her boys. It was fascinating. She'd actually never really witnessed anything so incredible. She gently rubbed her belly and started to sing to them, before deciding to make dinner.

Almost six months. She had been gone almost six months and he hadn't been able to find out anything. Just who the hell did she think she was, just picking up and disappearing like that? He was completely pissed off. The people she lived with said she left. His mother hadn't heard anything, but didn't seem worried about her. She said she was told Kyoko was working on a big project. What kind of project could a talentless newbie like her possibly have? It's not like she had the looks or the style for it. Probably some bit part that no one will ever notice. He groused.

He had actually gone to visit his uncle instead of calling him and the man hadn't said a word. He told him to stop coming to him for something he wasn't going to get. Kyoko was gone and he wouldn't be getting any help from his uncle's law office in finding her. He was told to drop it and get over her. Get over her? What the hell did that mean? How could that old geezer even think I was ever remotely attracted to her? The man must have hit his head! He couldn't even get in to talk to Todoh-san or her mother. They always knew where she was, but this time they wouldn't even give him the time of day if he'd asked them. What the hell was up with that?

He had tried all his contacts within LME, they didn't know anything. "Milky" didn't know how to get a hold of her new info and Shoko was just as useless. Mimori said that Kyoko had stopped going to school around the same time she disappeared, she was useless too. The girls that Kyoko worked with on Dark Moon hadn't heard from her since the cast party. The girls that worked with her on BoxR, were just as bad, especially that little one. What was her name? Oh yeah, Chiori. He groaned at that one. She was an utter bitch to him, just like that Kanae chick. He shivered at the thought of that one. Never going near the "Ice Queen" again, especially after she had threatened his ability to reproduce. He was sure that the girl meant business. Kyoko must have told her some stupid lies about him.

Tsuruga and Koga were a complete bust too. He had never met two more clueless bastards in all his life, except for maybe the Beagle. The only reason he hadn't been back around is because she wasn't interesting anymore. Whatever that meant. That Sawara guy told him that Kyoko was no longer with LME and if he had any offers for any of the other talents, he should have the director or producer submit a proposal and he would forward it to the proper parties. Even the guy that they said was her manager in the end, that glasses guy that came to Karuizawa, wouldn't speak to him. That guy gave him the shivers. How can one look from someone scare the hell out of him that way? No wonder he was Tsuruga's manager too.

Nothing in the tabloids, except that last little lesson that he taught her. Although, it did get him another warning from the CEO and half his fans were pissed at her, but hey if it put her in her place then so be it. He didn't care what they thought about her, as long as it got him what he wanted. She was his property and he was not going to let her forget it. It's not like they could do anything to him over it. He was the number one recording artist, they couldn't afford to get rid of him. They could threaten all they wanted, but they were all a bunch of paper tigers in the end. They needed his genius far too much to piss him off.

Maria Takarada sat at her desk at home, scowling at a picture of Ren Tsuruga. She may be young, but she was certainly not stupid. She had her ways of knowing everything thing that happens around her. She had learned by observing Ruto. So yes, she knew that Isabelle Stevens was her Onee-sama. She knew that some jerk named Kuon, that she definitely now knew was Ren-sama, had been responsible for getting her Onee-sama pregnant with two baby boys and then basically tossed her aside, from what she understood. Of course she knew about the adult things, like sex and where babies came from. She knew that some men did things like that and what it meant. She was a child of the Entertainment Industry, her intellect on many matters had quickly surpassed her physical age.

A few days later, one would find Maria standing in front of Kyoko while she and Ruto waited on Juli to come down on the elevator from Lory's office. It had been difficult for Kyoko to pretend that she didn't know Maria, but it was part of her new identity. Isabelle didn't know her.

"Ms. Stevens, may I speak to you in private." Maria asked politely and stared at Ruto for approval.

Kyoko nodded to Ruto. "Of course you may, little one."

Maria gently took her hand and guided her to an empty conference room where Ruto took his position outside the door, where he could still see the elevators down the hall.

As soon as the door shut, Maria wrapped Kyoko in a hug and began sobbing. "I missed you so much Onee-sama. I'm sorry about everything. I'm sorry you have to do this all alone. Please let me be an Auntie to your babies. I promise I won't tell anything to anyone. I just want to keep being a part of your life. I've missed you so much."

Kyoko would have knelt before her, as she had done so many times before, to comfort her, but she found her belly at this point, too cumbersome. She sat on one of the comfortable chairs next to the conference table and took Maria's hands in hers. She pulled Maria into a tight hug and they cried together. "Maria-chan, I am so sorry. I just didn't know what else to do and this is what your grandfather and I came up with. Of course you can still be my Imōuto. I can't think of anyone better than you to be Sora and Riku's Oba-chan." She hugged her again tightly and kissed her hair as she stroked her curls. Kyoko sighed. "We'll just have to be careful around others, okay?"

Maria nodded. "I promise to be extra careful." Especially around Ren-sama. "I'll only call you Onee-sama when we're alone."

Kyoko leaned back and smiled at her. "Thank you Maria-chan. I really appreciate it."

Maria grabbed her hand and helped her up. "Let's get Ruto and have lunch together. We haven't had any sister time in a long time."

Kyoko giggled and nodded. "Okay, but is it okay to bring Mother... I mean Juli, with us?"

Maria nodded excitedly. "The more the merrier. I like your new Mother. She reminds me of a lioness."

Kyoko laughed. "Yes, she does sometimes, she's very protective of me... It's nice." Kyoko gave her a bright smile.