AGENT WALLFLOWER
Kyoko has a journalist-friend? Everybody else is suspicious except of course, Kyoko. How do you protect a clueless actress with secrets from a possible enemy masquerading as a friend?
Disclaimer: I do not own Skipbeat!
CHAPTER 5
Kyouko was pouting.
She looked so adorable with her lower lip jutting out and her eyebrows scrunched together that Ren wanted to reach out from across the table and pull her to his chest. Instead, he turned his attention to his plate.
"Tsuruga senpai, can you tell me what's so nutritional about Hamburger steak?" Kyouko asked with a frown. She gestured to their identical plates.
"They have carrots and celery as side dish," Ren replied innocently. "Besides, this is your favorite, right?" He popped a piece of celery to his mouth and gave her an angelic smile.
Kyouko could feel her mindset wavering and her chibi demons cringing in fear from that smile, but she rallied herself. "My favorite food is beside the point here! I'm here to make sure you eat properly. Senpai, you should've ordered something more nutritious," she said in an exasperated tone.
"Look, I AM eating, see? And I promise I'll eat all the vegetables to put your mind at ease, so could you please enjoy your hamburger steak?" he cut a piece of his steak and pointedly showed her how he was enjoying his meal. "It's very delicious…" he murmured temptingly.
Ren rather liked how Kyouko stared at his mouth, although he was pretty sure her thoughts were totally not the same as what he was thinking. She transferred her gaze down to her own plate and finally sighed.
"Okay, fine. But you have to eat that all since you ordered it!" she said threateningly, but the next moment she gave him a dazzling smile and dug in her food with gusto.
Ren smiled in satisfaction and concentrated on his food, too. "So how was your day?" he asked casually.
"It was fine… OH!" Kyouko's eyes suddenly widened and she cringed from him. Ren was immediately alert. Did something happen today to make her act guilty?
"What's wrong, Mogami-san?" he asked gently.
"Sen- senpai, I'm sorry!" she cried out. "Please don't hate me!" She was about to bow down in apology when Ren's hand shot out and blocked her forehead before she face-planted herself on the steak.
"Can you tell me first what's the matter please?" he said with a bit of exasperation. He withdrew his hand when it looked like she wouldn't be doing anything rash anymore.
Kyouko sat back up again, slightly blushing. She absentmindedly rubbed her forehead where Ren had touched. It seemed like a little electric shock had passed through from where he touched her and travelled down her spine. It was a bit confusing and she couldn't bring herself to look at him for a few moments.
"Mogami-san?" Ren asked concernedly.
Kyouko was suddenly pulled back from her daze. "Oh, right! I'm sorry, senpai!" she said in a panic. She hurriedly pulled her thoughts back together.
"I broke character!" she blurted out.
'What?' Ren wondered to himself. "Okay…" he said cautiously.
"What's worse, I was photographed!"
"You don't want your picture taken?" he asked in confusion. She's an actor, being photographed was part of the job.
"Naw! I was photographed while I was out of character!" she huffed. "I was supposed to be Natsu! Natsu doesn't smile like this!" She stretched her cheeks to demonstrate a comedic parody of a smile.
"No, I guess not," Ren tried to control his laughter. "When did this happen?" he asked.
Kyouko reminded him about their guesting in 'Tea talk' and the subsequent photograph in the newspaper. Ren remembered the article Yashiro showed him the other day.
"And the worst part is my picture is BIG! Bigger than yours, senpai! The nerve!" she angrily said.
Ren chuckled. "It's just a picture, Mogami-san. Do you think I'm so self-centered to get angry that my picture's small?"
"NO! I would never think something like that, senpai!" Kyouko cried in horror. "It's just that…"
"Thank you, I'm glad you don't," he cut in humorously.
"You… you aren't angry with me?" she timidly asked.
Ren shook his head. "Why should I be? As your senpai in the entertainment business, I'm very happy that people are starting to appreciate you. And wouldn't it be boring if all I see in the newspaper is a blown up picture of myself all the time?" he asked. Kyouko cracked a small smile. She imagined a whole newspaper that only contained full page photos of Ren. That wouldn't be so bad at all, she thought. Except you'd call it an album, not a newspaper anymore.
Ren was glad he was able to make Kyouko smile at last. He carefully thought about what to say before continuing.
"Mogami-san, I know how serious and professional you are about work. I would never get angry with you when I know you're giving your best. It's good to be true to your character, but you're still human. You're allowed to make mistakes. You shouldn't be too hard on yourself. And I was there, remember? I thought you handled things pretty well," he said gently.
Ren speared a carrot and nonchalantly inspected it as he spoke again, "And I really like the way you smiled in that picture. You should smile more often like that." He saw Kyouko freeze in place when he sneaked a glance at her. Her face had turned as red as a tomato. Looks like her self-recrimination has been forgotten in place of embarrassment.
She hurriedly grabbed her utensils and started eating to hide her discomfiture. "A- alright, senpai," she mumbled. "I'm sorry. Uh, no! I mean… you know what I mean!"
If Yashiro had seen how tenderly Ren was looking at his kouhai, he would have been shrieking like a fangirl right now.
The two continued eating in silence. Ren looked relaxed, but Kyoko felt like she should say something. His last comment kept bouncing around inside her head, making her feel inexplicably warm. She racked her brain for some other topic.
"Oh, I met my high school classmate today…"
-o-o-o-o-
Evening at the Tokyo Daily office.
Monobu sat haphazardly in front of Shio-san's desk. As usual, Shio-san was hard at work on her computer, but she didn't really mind Monobu's presence since he was so quiet, he might as well be air. Monobu held a notebook in his hands wherein he would scribble something every few minutes, but from the looks of it, his mind was elsewhere. When Shio-san stood up to refill her coffee, she leaned down to see what he was up to.
"Kyouko and Kyoko? What are you doing, practicing your penmanship?" Shio-san quipped as she read the two names that were written over and over again on the notebook.
Startled, Monobu almost fell off the chair. This guy dawdles in her cubicle and the goes ahead and forgets she's in here? Shio-san just raised an eyebrow at him before going over to the coffee maker.
"So did you want to talk to me about something? By the way, how's your article?" she asked as she poured more coffee in her mug.
Monobu shifted uneasily. "Errr… I have a problem with my article," he said.
"What? Sato-san told me that you were practically frothing in the mouth to write your breaking news story," she commented.
Monobu flushed. "My story's dead," he mumbled.
"Eh?"
Monobu grimaced. "I was supposed to write an article about that actress Kyoko and the singer Fuwa Sho."
"You see, I thought that Kyoko was someone I knew back in high school - a girl named Mogami Kyouko. I thought I could write about their…uhhh…" Monobu fumbled for the right word. "…relationship. But when I researched about Fuwa and Kyoko, the facts just didn't add up. And then I met Mogami-san again and she's nowhere like the Kyoko I saw the other day."
"So this Mogami-san is Fuwa Sho's girlfriend?" Shio-san said interestedly. "Sho is quite a playboy and has been reported to have dated a lot of girls, but I've never heard of him having a girlfriend. You can write about that," she suggested.
Monobu frowned at his notebook. Back in high school, Fuwa and Mogami had never acted like they were in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship at all. But then they had also run away to Tokyo together.
"Well, I… uh… I'm not sure about that, either. I think they were childhood friends though," he said.
Shio-san shook her head. A story about Fuwa Sho's childhood friend isn't something worth writing about, but if that childhood friend was someone who was also famous, then that would have been an entirely different matter.
"I see what you mean," she commiserated, patting his back.
"Why did you think that this Mogami-san was Kyoko anyway?" she asked as she sat down in front of her computer again.
Monobu reddened. "They… they have the same smile," he mumbled.
"And why did you think they're not one and the same?"
"For one, I saw Mogami-san clipping hedges early today," Monobu deadpanned.
"Oh," was all Shio-san managed to say. As a secret fan of Box-R, she was very familiar with Natsu. She could hardly imagine the elegant and refined Natsu trimming hedges at all. Monobu nodded knowingly as if he could read her mind.
The two lapsed in silence.
Finally, Shio-san stirred. "I'm taking that you don't have a backup plan?"
Monobu nodded dejectedly.
"If you want my opinion, I think you already have a story to dig up. Well, two stories. Judging by all those scribbles in your notebook, you're already very interested on the two Kyokos so you might as well write about one of them," Shio-san said matter-of-factly. "Kyoko is just starting to get popular so not a lot of stuff is known about her yet. If you can find out something more about her, the readers would love that."
She paused and looked at Monobu consideringly. "And then while you're at it you can also tell me all about this Mogami-san that seems to fascinate you so much."
-o-o-o-o-
It looks like today won't be going through as planned.
Monobu had come to LME determined to snoop around with the pretext of hanging around with Kyouko. He found her easily enough. It was hard not to when she was wearing the garishly pink jumpsuit and also since she was lugging such an attention-grabbing signboard with her.
He was having second thoughts about approaching her when she spotted him.
"Hi Wallflower-san! Are you here to hang out with me?" she asked cheerfully.
"I am not Wallflower-san, you are." he said brusquely. She wasn't listening to him though. She was having trouble holding on to the big signboard that was slipping from her grasp.
Giving in, he took it from her. "Here, let me help you with that," he said.
Kyouko smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks!" she said. "I'm going to the Tokyo station to meet someone for the President. Wanna tag along?" she asked.
So that was how Monobu found himself standing in the middle of Tokyo station holding up a flamboyantly gaudy signboard.
It even had neon lights and feathers on it. Passersby were looking at him strangely and he could see some of the guards creeping closer, suspicion clearly written on their faces. He dearly wished to be somewhere else right now.
He uneasily glanced at Mogami-san who was gesturing wildly as she talked to someone on the phone.
"HACHIKO STATUE AT SHIBUYA STATION!" Kyouko suddenly shrieked. Monobu watched with interest as the blood drained out of Kyouko's face. He wondered what she was discussing about over the phone that disturbed her so much.
Somebody suddenly grabbed his shoulder and Monobu turned to see a security guard's grim face. The guard glanced at the signboard.
"You're soliciting, aren't you?" the guard said.
Before Monobu could reply, he was swept away by a mini-tornado.
"Wallflower-san, we have to go to Shibuya right now!" Kyouko said urgently while tugging at his arm.
"For the umpteenth time, I'm not Wallflower-san, you are," Monobu distractedly said to Kyouko. Behind them, Monobu could see the guards running after them. Going to Shibuya seemed to be a really good idea at the moment. He quickened his pace.
-o-o-o-o-
"I'm going to be killed…" Monobu heard Kyouko mumble to herself. "I am going to be beaten senseless and then left on an alleyway to die a slow and painful death," she added morosely. Then she brightened.
"Maybe someone will find me in the alleyway and bring me to the hospital! Then Moko-san will come visit and shower me with love and attention!" she happily said.
Monobu didn't know what to think about Kyouko's mood. She was this way ever since they'd jumped inside the company car and sped over to Shibuya station. One minute she'd be angrily muttering to herself, and then the next moment she'd be gazing happily in a dreamy fashion. Then she'd repeat the whole process all over again. At least she'd explained to him the reason for their impromptu trip to Shibuya first before she lapsed to her weird mood cycle. Apparently, the LME president had changed the meeting place to the Shibuya station, at the Hachiko statue nonetheless. But she didn't explain why she kept muttering about being beaten to death. Were they meeting a mafia boss or something?
"You'll bring me to the hospital, right Wallflower-san?" she suddenly turned to Monobu as they were walking through the crowd.
"For the last time I'm not Wallf— okay fine, I'll bring you to the hospital if ever," Monobu threw up his hands in surrender. They stopped in front of the Hachiko statue. "We're here, so where's your guest?"
Kyouko and Monobu looked around the crowd. There were a lot of people milling around, but there was nobody that looked like he was waiting for someone.
"Maybe he wandered off while waiting? Let's look around for a bit," Monobu suggested when he saw the distraught look on Kyouko's face. Kyouko nodded and they split up to look.
As Kyouko looked around, she wondered how she'll recognize the missing guest. Takarada-san's description of the person she was meeting was so abstract, she still didn't know what to look for. She shivered involuntarily when she recalled Takarada-san's words.
"He is more excitable than he looks. He may even give you a punch as greeting even though you are a girl." The LME president had said.
Suddenly, she noticed some people whispering and glancing at something near the benches. She curiously walked closer to have a look.
Kyouko paled when she saw what the people were looking at. There was a brooding man clad all in black sitting hunched on a bench. Passersby were giving him a wide berth because he was emitting a dark and angry aura around him. He looked like he was ready to whip out a knife and go on a rampage at that very minute. Scattered at his feet were a bunch of cigarette butts, proof that he'd been there for quite some time now.
Kyouko curled up in despair. This was unmistakably the man Takarada-san was talking about. She was definitely going to be killed.
But this was her job! That man is Takarada-san's honored guest! She had to gather up her courage and apologize for being late. She'll never be able to forgive herself if she chickened out now! Kyouko determinedly rose to her feet and took a step forward. Then she curled up in a ball again. She was still afraid of getting killed, she cried to herself.
Monobu had also noticed the curious behavior of the passersby and came to have a look. There was a small crowd forming around an area by the benches.
"Somebody stop that girl! Is she crazy?" somebody said as he walked by.
To his dismay, he saw Kyouko from afar hesitantly moving towards a scary-looking man sitting on a bench. He tried calling out to her but she was too far to hear him. He could only watch as she approached imminent disaster.
Abruptly, Kyouko stopped in her tracks and appeared to be acutely watching the man. Monobu sighed in relief. She must have realized the danger, he thought. Then suddenly, she started walking towards the man again in a much faster pace.
Before he knew it, Kyouko was beside the scary stranger and talking to him. 'Damn it, Mogami-san!' Monobu thought. He struggled through the crowd that had gathered around the spectacle. The man glared darkly at her and Kyouko took a step back looking frightened. She tried speaking again, but the man suddenly stood up to his incredible height. He loomed intimidatingly over Kyouko who was cowering by now.
"Ohmigod! Call the police!" a woman cried out fearfully.
The scary man took a step closer and Kyouko fell on her butt in terror. She stared up at him as if transfixed by his glare. Then the man moved closer and Kyouko cringed, expecting a kick. But he only stepped over her and sullenly strode away.
Monobu finally broke away from the crowd and hurried over to Kyouko.
"Are you okay?" he anxiously asked. Kyouko could only nod mutely in shock.
It took a few minutes and a bottle of water Monobu brought her before Kyouko felt fit enough to stand again. Her knees felt like jelly after that scary encounter and she still looked pale.
"I'll bring you home, Mogami-san. We've waited long enough, I'm pretty sure the person you're supposed to meet isn't coming," Monobu said gently.
"Okay," Kyouko meekly agreed.
Monobu led the way and kept a constant train of chatter as they walked. Kyouko was still a bit shocked so he understood when she kept quiet along the way. He glanced back to see the distraught-looking girl trailing behind him.
"The first time I came to Shibuya was when I was 11 years old. I wanted to climb onto Hachiko's back but my Mom wouldn't let me," Monobu prattled. "How about you, Mogami-san? Have you been here before?"
He looked back again when she didn't answer and abruptly stopped.
Kyouko had disappeared.
I
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Hi people! Not too much going in this chapter, sorry. I've recently become an unemployed bum taking a month long vacation at home before seriously starting to look for another job again. I thought staying at home would be a blissful & relaxing experience, but I found out that wasn't the case. There's SOOOO many chores to do! That's also the reason why it took so long for this chapter to come out.
Review please!