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!
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*(8/27/13) Just made a slight revision... no biggie...
Chapter 14
Trying to act busy, Monobu moodily sat in front of his laptop displaying a blank document on the screen.
It's been 2 weeks and 3 days since he last saw Mogami Kyouko. As he expected, his life went back to the same mundane routine he had before he met again his old schoolmate from Kyoto.
At the start, he had tried to write the article about Kyoko and Fuwa Sho. After all, that had been his original intent when he started hanging out with Mogami. But for the life of him, he couldn't bring himself to write the revealing article that could very well end Kyoko's acting career. Why did he still feel responsible and concerned about her welfare? Why did he still care even though he was the one who broke his ties with her?
In the end, he just gave up.
Since he couldn't write the juicy story his editor-in-chief, Sato-san asked for, he had to swallow his pride and apologize for being so full of himself. He didn't offer any explanation, and Sato-san didn't press for any. The editor-in-chief just ordered him back to his old desk at the far corner of the newsroom, right next to the water station. Unlike last time that he was given the freedom to look for entertainment stories on his own to write about, this time he was to await for the editor-in-chief's order before he could write any article at all. So now, he was just whiling away most of his time staring at his laptop's empty screen since the editor-in-chief hadn't seen it fit to give him an article to write about yet. Most probably, he was just punishing him. He can't complain, at least Sato-san didn't have him fired.
With all the time in his hands, he finally got to examine everything he had experienced with Mogami Kyouko. Actually, that was all he'd been doing because he had nothing else to do in the office. He was getting tired of hearing his inner voice in his head calling him stupid over and over.
Stupid for not getting that Mogami was Kyoko in the first place.
Stupid for not realizing despite all the clues in front of him.
Stupid for letting his frustrations get the best of him.
Stupid for breaking his ties with Mogami.
"I'll slap you if you keep sulking like that," Shio-san said with a straight face. She had been standing by his desk for a good 10 minutes and Monobu hadn't even noticed her.
"Gyah! Sorry, Shio-san! Do you need anything?" Monobu asked sheepishly. Shio-san had asked him a couple of times already about what happened to his article, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her. Maybe because of some leftover loyalty to Mogami? Shio-san didn't push him after that, but Monobu felt a bit embarrassed so he had been avoiding her instead.
"Nothing, really. Just wanted to give you a heads up. Maybe this'll kick you out of your slump," Shio-san said, patting him on the back.
"What will?" Monobu asked.
"Monobu! In my office, right now!" Sato-san's voice suddenly boomed out.
"Speak of the devil. Good luck, kid," Shio-san said, grinning at him encouragingly.
-o-o-o-o-
"Yes sir, Sato-san sir?"
Whenever Monobu felt embarrassed or awkward, he had an odd tendency to grovel. The editor-in-chief flinched a bit when he heard what Monobu said, but decided to ignore it.
"Well, aren't you a lucky guy," Sato-san gruffly said to him as he entered his office.
"The story you'll be covering will be on the entertainment section's front page. Any article about that guy is a must-read for half the population in Tokyo, so don't blow it!" he warned.
"Y-yes sir, of course, Sato-san sir!" Monobu nervously replied. Sato-san glowered at him for a moment.
The editor in chief informed him that he got to write an article because the senior reporter who was to cover it had reported in sick, so Sato-san had to reassign it to him since there was nobody else available.
"You are to write about the press con for Tsuruga-san Ren's latest commercial for..." he finally continued as he scanned a document in his hand, "...whatever latest product he is endorsing. I forgot," The editor-in-chief gave up looking at the document he was holding and just shrugged.
Tsuruga Ren? Wasn't he that handsome actor who appeared with the Box-R girls in 'Tea-talk with Hino-chan'?
"I swear that guy is a walking Endorsement! Is there any popular brand he doesn't already have an endorsement deal with?!" Sato-san mused aloud. Monobu sweat dropped.
Then Sato-san handed him the document he had been looking at. "Anyway, it's your job to write an article about it. The rest of the details about the press-con is in there," he gestured at the piece of paper now in Monobu's possession. "Start reading and then get to work! I think the press-con starts in about an hour."
Sato-san stood up, signalling the end of their meeting.
"Yes sir! I won't let you down, Sato-san sir!" Monobu said, bowing repeatedly as Sato-san shooed him out of the office.
"Gaaah! Stop grovelling, boy! It makes my skin crawl!" the older man growled. "Just do your job right! That's all I ask!" Then he slammed the door on Monobu's face.
-o-o-o-o-
"It's so weird to be back in LME again," Monobu uncomfortably thought to himself as he waited with all the other reporters in LME's conference hall. Why did it have to be LME? What if he met Mogami again by accident? He still hadn't figured out how to act if ever that happens. Should he just pretend he didn't see her? After all, he was the one who broke their friendship off.
Then he shook his head at himself. "Focus, Monobu, focus!" he berated himself. He was here for work, not to worry about meeting an ex-friend. Come to think of it, the only thing he knew about the press con was Tsuruga Ren was in it. He didn't even know what product the actor was endorsing. He proceeded to hurriedly study the press kit provided for all the reporters.
Somebody tapped on his shoulder. "Monobu Kenta-san?" a polite voice inquired.
When he nodded in acknowledgement, the light-haired, bespectacled man standing in front of Monobu stuck out his hand to shake his.
"My name is Yashiro Yukihito," the man introduced himself. Then he leaned closer and said in a lower voice, "I am Mr. Tsuruga Ren's manager. He would like to request a word with you before the press con, if you are willing."
Tsuruga Ren, Japan's number 1 actor, wanted to talk to him? Why was he being singled out of all the reporters here in the conference hall? Come to think of it, why did the actor know his name in the first place?
Although puzzled, Monobu followed after Tsuruga-san's manager. A one-on-one interview with Japan's number 1 actor was too good to pass up. He just prayed he wouldn't make a fool of himself since he hardly knew anything at all about the commercial the current press con was being held for, or about Tsuruga Ren who starred in it.
Yashiro ushered Monobu into a small sitting room.
"Monobu-san, I'd like you to meet Tsuruga Ren. Ren, this here is Monobu Kenta-san."
The handsome, dark-haired man who had been preoccupied with reading what looked like a script politely stood up and shook his hand. He flashed him a gentlemanly smile.
"I know. Thanks for bringing him here, Yashiro," the actor said to his manager before returning his attention back to Monobu. Yashiro reminded Ren that the press con was starting in 30 min. before he excused himself and left the room.
"Monobu-san, I'm glad to see you again. I've heard a lot about you," Ren graciously led him to a seat before going to the refreshment stand. "Would you like some coffee or some tea?" he asked.
"No, but thank you for the offer, Tsuruga-san, sir," Monobu replied nervously. He idly noted how the tall actor locked the door first before preparing some coffee for himself.
As he waited for Ren to finish, Monobu surreptitiously scanned the press kit and tried to form some legitimate questions to ask, but something kept niggling in his head.
"I'm sorry to ask, Tsuruga-san... but did you just say you've heard a lot about me?!" Monobu blurted out as soon as the actor took his seat in front of him. Who would talk about him to Japan's no.1 actor... and why? Shio-san? Sato-san? Was one of them close to Tsuruga Ren?
The actor gave him a megawatt smile. "Yes. Well, you see, I'm Mogami Kyouko's senpai," he said.
-o-o-o-o-
Monobu's mouth dropped open. "Tsuruga Ren, one of the most influential personalities in the entertainment industry, is Mogami's senpai?!" he thought in disbelief.
The working-class, middle-aged man in a pink jumpsuit that Monobu had imagined as Mogami's senpai imploded and was rudely replaced by the dazzling image of the actor.
Ren calmly sipped his coffee as if Monobu's current impersonation of a gasping fish was perfectly natural.
"Mogami-san is a very important person to me, and I am very concerned about her welfare. She has told me EVERYTHING that happened between the two of you," he continued, eyeing him thoughtfully.
"I... I see," Monobu stammered.
"Do you regret ending your friendship with her?" the actor asked conversationally while he nursed his coffee.
Embarrassed, Monobu looked down to hide his reddening face. "Y-yeah. After thinking about it, I realized I've been too rash. I was being too stupid. But I can't do anything about it anymore, can I?" Monobu wondered why he was discussing Mogami with Tsuruga-san. Shouldn't they be talking about his commercial?
Monobu felt something in the air shift as Ren set down his coffee mug. Why did he suddenly feel so nervous? As if he was some kind of small animal sensing danger?
"I am very sorry that your friendship ended saw abruptly, she hasn't been herself these past couple of weeks," Ren started to say, his tone more terse than before.
"But let me get to the point now. I know there are some things in my kuohai's past that can be potentially damaging to her career, and knowing her, she must have innocently imparted them to you, correct? She can be pretty trusting & naive sometimes," Ren said, slightly frowning at the last part. Monobu reluctantly nodded.
"I want to know what you intend to do with the information about her connection with Fuwa Sho."
The actor's gaze steely effectively pinned Monobu in place. There was no trace of the genial gentleman in front of him anymore.
"I have been in the entertainment business for a long time, and I am not a fool. I know that somebody's downfall can be another one's gain," Ren raised an eyebrow at him. "You can benefit a lot if you expose Mogami-san, especially since you're not friends anymore," he said with a level tone.
Monobu suddenly felt absurdly indignant. He jumped to his feet, catching Ren by surprise.
"I'm not planning anything! I'm not a monster to do something so low like that to Mogami-san!" he angrily said to Ren, but he backtracked a bit. "Well, I was planning to before, but that was before I really got to know her," he sheepishly added.
"We might not be friends anymore, but I can't do something like that to someone like her!"
Ren sensed the regret from what Monobu last said. He impassively watched as the reporter reluctantly sank back to his seat. After a couple of uncomfortable moments (in Monobu's part), Ren finally spoke.
"I'm glad to hear that then. I was afraid I had to do some drastic measures if you were to damage Mogami-san's reputation." The actor was smiling, but there was something frighteningly shark-like about his smile. He leaned closer to Monobu with unmistakable air of menace.
"If ever you are tempted to go back on what you said, please remember that I will personally DESTROY you," he said darkly.
Now that was no veiled threat.
For the second time, Monobu surprised Ren with his response.
"As I told you, Tsuruga-san, I'm not planning to expose Mogami-san. I promised that I'll keep her secrets and that's what I'll do. We might not be friends anymore but I swear she managed to make me care for her more than I'd like to admit. When we hung out together before, sometimes I wanted to choke her for making me worry so much for her sake. I'm afraid that feeling still hasn't changed," he bitterly said.
Ren paused and retreated slightly, intently staring at the annoyed expression on Monobu's face. Apparently, the reporter was more irritated about his feelings towards Mogami than he was intimidated with Ren's threat.
"Pfft..." Ren smirked and barely managed to muffle his laughter just in time. He finally relaxed back on his seat and picked his cup of coffee again.
"Oh? Then I guess it would be better if the two of you became friends again, so that you wouldn't have to worry so needlessly," he said, quite amused. This time his tone was genuinely warmer. "I'm sure Mogami-san will be thrilled to be friends with you again. I believe she called you her 'BFF'?"
Monobu raised his eyes heaven-ward in irritation upon hearing the word 'BFF', but he quickly got serious. "Y-yeah... I would like to be her friend again," he gruffly said to Ren.
"That's great!" Ren rewarded him with a dazzling smile.
Then he suddenly glanced at his watch. "I think we're almost out of time, we'll have to arrange for the two of you to meet again later. But for now, I want to burden you with a couple more secrets to keep," he said as he stood up, prompting Monobu to scramble to his feet as well.
"One, the two of us have actually met before, in rather unfortunate circumstances I might add. I was trying to choke you to death then, sorry," Ren lightly said, giving him an apologetic look. The image of the scary guy in Caprice's back alley suddenly superimposed on the actor.
"Cain, Setsuka's nii-san..." Monobu gasped in surprise.
"Yes. Mogami-san and I are currently working undercover as the Heel siblings. It's for a movie I'm doing. To put it simply, my role in the movie 'Tragic Marker' is extremely different from all the other roles I've done before, so the LME Management are concerned the public might approach it with some bias. Thus the need for Cain and Setsuka Heel. After the movie is released, we are planning to reveal my real identity to the public." Ren explained as he rounded the table to stand next to Monobu.
"I would like to ask you to keep this under wraps for now, and in return I'll give you the privilege to be the first to publish the story." Who in his right mind would say no to a deal like that? Of course Monobu eagerly said yes. The choking incident was instantly forgotten as Ren and Monobu shook hands to seal their agreement.
"Now, the second secret..." Ren said as he led Monobu towards the door. Monobu wondered why Ren's expression seemed a bit softer somehow. He was about to find out why.
"I have to confess that my concern for Mogami-san is not purely because I'm her senpai..." the actor softly said, making Monobu glance at him suspiciously.
"Actually, I'm deeply in love with her."
Monobu stopped in his tracks. "OH. MY. GOD." he loudly said.
This was big, BIG news. Japan's no. 1 actor is in love with a relative newcomer in the entertainment business! But wait, more importantly why does he feel like an overprotective father who suddenly found out that a man wanted to marry his daughter? Right now, he didn't know if he wanted to congratulate Ren or to punch him.
"Mogami-san doesn't know this yet. I'm aware that she's not ready so I'm still waiting for her to be able to accept my feelings. However long it takes, I'll wait until her heart heals," Ren continued, seemingly unaware of Monobu's reaction.
"Again, I'd like you to keep this a secret, Monobu-san, especially from Mogami-san. In exchange, you'll be the first one to write about it when Mogami and I get engaged, and all the other firsts that come after that when she becomes mine." Ren opened the door and turned around to face him.
Monobu almost blushed at how somber Ren's expression was.
"Engaged? You're that serious, huh?" he attempted to joke. Ren just silently nodded.
Monobu abandoned his attempt to lighten the mood, but he felt a bit uncomfortable staring at Ren so he opted with staring at the floor.
"Your offer is very tempting, but there's no need for it, Tsuruga-san. All your secrets are safe, don't worry. Just... just make sure you don't hurt that idio... I mean, Mogami, or else..."
Monobu was sure Ren knew that what he said was just an empty threat, but the actor nodded anyway.
"Of course. You have my word," Ren solemnly said.
As if a switch was flipped, suddenly Ren's genial smile was back. "Sadly, we'll have to cut short our conversation or we'll be late for the press-con. But it's been a pleasure to talk to you, Monobu-san. I'm glad we were able to clear things up," he smoothly said as he ushered Monobu out of the room.
"No, the pleasure is mine, sir, Mr. Tsuruga-san, sir!" Monobu winced at how pathetic he sounded. Earlier, he had actually forgotten that he was talking to THE Tsuruga Ren. Now that he was reminded of the press-con, his nervousness for meeting such an influential personality had come back three-fold, making him feel all flustered and awkward.
Ren merely chuckled. "I'll see you soon, Monobu-san," he said.
Something told him seeing Mogami and Monobu together again will be highly entertaining.
-o-o-o-o-
The next day, the cast of Tragic Marker was treated to a very strange sight when the normally morose Cain Heel strode on set with a nervous young man in tow. And then they were completely stupefied when Cain's brother-centric, aloof sister suddenly launch herself at the stranger in absolute delight, ignoring her brother for once.
"MY PET! Nii-san brought my pet Kenta-kun back!" they heard Setsuka cutely squeal.
The scary Cain Heel just watched impassively as his sister tackle the young man and pull him into a headlock. His face looked almost completely expressionless, except for the very slight crease on his brow. He crossed his arms and leaned on the wall languidly.
Pet? Setsuka has a human as pet?
'The Heel siblings really are weird', the curious evesdroppers murmured among themselves... although some of the guys privately thought that they wouldn't really mind being Setsuka's pet if it meant getting manhandled like THAT. Thinking that way, they enviously watched in secret as Setsuka pinched his cheeks and cooed at the stranger she called 'Kenta-kun'.
Monobu winced and tried to be patient as Setsu pulled on his cheek a little too hard. He had not been sure how his reconciliation with Mogami was going to be. He had some ideas, but he had never imagined he was going to be battered this way. He threw a wry look at the girl. He had definitely missed her, but he could do with less of her craziness.
"Gaah!" he yelled as he finally toppled over, bringing Setsu with him. Okay, this is getting out of hand.
Suddenly, he heard Mogami's hesitant-sounding voice in his ear as she pretended to ruffle his hair. "I'm really sorry for whatever I did wrong, Monobu-san. Does this mean we're friends again?" she softly whispered.
"I should be the one apologizing, Mog...Setsu. Sorry for being so stupid. Let's be friends again, okay?" Monobu whispered back.
In response, Setsuka suddenly crushed Monobu's face against her chest.
"OOOF!" he unintelligibly said, completely taken by surprise.
Cain's response was immediate.
"All right, that's enough Setsu. Playtime's over!" he tersely barked out as he quickly stepped in to separate the two.
-o-o-o-o-
As promised, Monobu was given the privilege to break Tsuruga Ren's secret identity to the public after Tragic Marker was released. The movie was a huge hit and Ren's role was well-received, thus also boosting Monobu's career since he was the first one to report about the actor's secret identity to the public.
Because of her efforts, Kyoko's popularity also successfully rose. She and Monobu continued to be close friends and Monobu was always given the privilege to be the first to report on anything about the wildly popular actress.
Later on, Monobu's name really got cemented to the Public's consciousness when it was found out how close he was to Kyoko. He was also the first one to report about Kyoko & Tsuruga Ren's engagement. There was only one thing he regretted, though. Kyoko never really got over from calling him "Wallflower-san". Because of that, everybody started calling him that and it stuck.
Thanks to her, his by-line in the newspaper embarrassingly became 'Monobu "Wallflower-san" Kenta'. He openly complained about it to her, but secretly he didn't really mind it anymore.
After all, his success was all thanks to his friendship with Kyoko, the original "Wallflower-san".
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THE END
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Thank you very much to everyone who stuck with me until the end, especially to those who regularly left their feedback and reviews. They really helped me a lot in finishing the story.
Sorry lovelock8, Otaku12367 and CrystallineX that Monobu had been a jerk and so whiny :) It's just how he is. I hope you forgive him.
To SilverStella, muchachomomo, Angeline G. McFellou, Literati Lover, Danger All Around, CurrentlyOccupied, CrimsonQueen24, missshay16, Corloquitur ADME, Jeah and everyone else who left me feedback: super duper thank you very much for sympathizing with Mogami and Monobu.
I love everyone who left me feedbacks! MWAHHHH!
To everyone who had not left any comments yet, please, please don't hesitate to leave your comments! I want to know what you think about the ending! Thank you again in advance!