Author's Note: Thanks for all the views, reviews, favorites and follows everyone! Andras Kouros, I think most of the readers agree that Sho is a bad boy that needs to be punished. Hmm... I think I can give that to you... but not right away, of course. For now, let's just see what he's up to...

Chapter 3: Missing in action

The preparations were nearly complete and the cast and crew of [Box "R"] were starting to move to the next location, a theme park. Considering that it would be the climax of the drama, Director Kazutoyo thought he'd better discuss the scene with Kyoko, lest she pull out another request to modify her lines. So he poked his head into the cast van, which would transport the actors and actresses who did not have their own ride.

"Is Kyoko here?" he asked, craning his neck to see if she was sitting in one of the back seats.

"No, Director," replied Makino-san, who was seated closest to the door. "We haven't seen her since lunch, right?" she looked beside her to Sudo-san, who nodded.

"Hmm, ok. Well, if you see her, send her my way, alright?"

"Sure thing," the girls answered, with polite smiles.

When the director shut the door, the two exchanged meaningful looks.

"Do you think she's still with Fuwa Sho?" wondered Sudo-san, a bit jealously.

"I don't know… maybe."

Kyoko had been talking to Fuwa Sho as if they were close. Friends perhaps? Lovers?

Though Chiori had steered them away, judging from what she did manage to overhear of their conversation, it hadn't been anything terribly private. Mostly it was the way they had been talking – as if they could no longer see anyone else in the room but each other – that had produced the uninviting atmosphere. But, no matter what they were to each other, Makino was sure that Kyoko wouldn't hold up production for personal reasons. That is, unless she didn't have the choice.

Wandering around the lobby, the Director speculated where Kyoko could have gotten to. Other than the restaurant next door, where they'd had lunch, the main entrance of the hotel and the room they'd used for filming, he couldn't think of anywhere else she would have gone. Though he would have been concerned that some other actresses would be curious about the goings-on of this kind of hotel, Mogami Kyoko was certainly not one of them. He asked Rumi-chan (or rather her manager, as Rumi was having "quiet time" right now) as well as Kyoko's make-up artist if they'd seen her, but their answers were the same: Mogami-chan hadn't been seen since lunch.

As calmly as he could, he asked for her cellphone number from his assistant. It wasn't unheard of for a director to call a wayward actor, especially during the day they were supposed to be filming, but Director Kazutoyo didn't like that he'd have to resort to this. It reflected poorly on the young talent.

Phone against his ear, he tilted his head impatiently as he waited. It was ringing, at least. Once, twice, three times… he must be an "unknown caller" on her phone… but still… five rings? Was she going to pick up at all?

After the seventh (or eighth?) ring he gave up. His assistant provided an alternate contact, but it was none other than the President of LME. Kazutoyo surely couldn't bother someone as important as him, especially with such a trivial problem as losing track of one of his rookie talents. At this point, he started to panic. This was the problem with new talents who didn't have managers!

But… even the stage-hands couldn't help. No one had been paying that much attention to the actress. Most had been focusing on their own job. A couple people mentioned that they'd noticed her talking to a blonde man in the lobby just after lunch, but they couldn't say for sure whether she'd gone anywhere with him or if he'd left right afterwards.

Finally, the director gave up and called LME. As if "Mogami Kyoko" was a code word or something, the President was immediately on the line.

"Yes, what about Mogami-chan?"

"Well, I have a bit of a problem on set here," he started, suddenly uncomfortable talking to such an important man. "Mogami-san has… disappeared."

"Hm? Disappeared, you say?"

"Yes…"

"And you've called her cellphone?"

"Yes, she isn't answering my calls."

"Hm…" the President Lory Takeda trailed off, as if he was thinking deeply.

Kazutoyo squirmed uncomfortably while the silence ticked by. He didn't know if he should apologize to the President or just hang up.

"Well," Lory said after some time, "I'll try everything I can to contact her from my end. Honestly, I doubt the girl has gone far. Thank you for telling me, and please, let me know as soon as you find her."

"I will. Thank you. Goodbye," the director wiped the sweat off his forehead. How uncomfortable!

Just then, Chiori entered the lobby from one of the back doors, snapping her cellphone closed with a dark look on her face. She'd just finished a rather long-winded conversation with her manager about all the crazy things the LME President was trying to make her do, and whether or not she should comply. The Love ME section really was a full-time job, after all.

"Amamiya-san!" the director shouted across the room, surprising the young actress. He beckoned her closer.

"Yes, Director?"

"Have you seen Mogami-san, by chance?"

His desperate tone suggested that Kyoko had been missing for a while now.

"Not since a little after lunch, when she was talking to Fuwa Sho."

"Fuwa Sho?" Kazutoyo questioned. Then, his eyebrows shot into his hair-line. "As in: the musician Fuwa Sho?!"

"Yes," Chiori replied with a forced calmness. She hated how people in their line of work got so excited over some singer. Weren't they even more famous than he was?

"Do you know where they are now?" the director asked, recovering from his shock.

Looking around the lobby, Chiori spotted a blonde woman.

"Why don't you ask her?" she said, pointing to the approaching lady. "That's Fuwa's manager, after all."

Sho turned around to find Kyoko blinking her big amber eyes back at him with innocent curiosity. Taking a moment to drink in her appearance, he could help but congratulate the make-up artist and even the cosmetics company for pulling off this transformation. It was beyond magic. Did they resculpt her jaw or slim down her nose? In his mind, what he saw could only be described as plastic surgery. That girl whom he'd always thought of as plain and unattractive was even more beautiful in person than she had been on TV.

However, he reminded himself that she was still Kyoko, no matter how many coats of paint they slapped on her. His Kyoko – who had followed him into a hotel room without a second thought.

"What is wrong with you?!" he demanded, using his frustrations to fuel his anger. "Following a man into a hotel room like a lost puppy, shouldn't you know better by now?"

Having expected some heart-wrenching speech about his parents, Kyoko was caught off-guard by this attack.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you even know what Love Hotels are for?"

"I don't see what that has to do with anything…" Kyoko said skeptically, raising an eyebrow. Was he going to tell her why he'd been calling or just yell about random things?

Sho scoffed. Of course she wouldn't. She kept saying that she didn't want to be a fool again, but this naïveté of hers would ensure that it would happen over and over and over again.

"Well, in any case, this must be your first time alone in a hotel room with a man," he said smugly, rubbing his chin. Yet another first stolen from that Tsuruga Ren!

"Allow me to… wait, what was that look for?!" Sho snapped.

Kyoko quickly looked down at her shoes. For a moment she'd thought about correcting Sho about being her "first". But that would mean she'd have to spill the beans about Cain Heel being Tsuruga Ren, an unforgivable thing to let slip accidently. Especially to Sho, who hated the man. She'd managed to hold her tongue but couldn't help the look of excitement that had crossed her face the instant she realized she had something she could use to tease Sho.

Kyoko tried to play innocent. "What look?"

"The look that suggested that you…" Sho trailed off, his imagination running wild.

He pictured Tsuruga Ren, luring Kyoko into a hotel room with a doggie treat. Dressed in a furry bikini (to continue his "lost puppy" analogy), Kyoko wagged her tail and followed him inside. Then Ren tucked the treat into the front of his pants and… Imagination Ren smiled widely as he shut the door to the theater in Sho's mind.

His head might have exploded.

"With him?!"

It didn't matter if I say anything or not! Kyoko agonized. Somehow Sho had read her perfectly. If he found out about Cain Heel, she would be dead – not just dead, but murdered, buried, reanimated as a zombie and burned into pure white ash – by the hand of Tsuruga-san.

No, she had to control the situation… She needed to use her acting skills to make Sho second-guess himself, in the same way that Cain Heel had her fully fooled even after she'd recognized him as Tsuruga-san.

"Oh, well… that look…" she said shyly, scuffing her feet. "I just noticed… the décor…"

Then, lifting her head with a bright, overly-excited smile, Kyoko twirled further into the room which could only be described as a {*~PRINCESS ROOM~*}.

Sighing in relief, Sho couldn't help but grin a little as he watched Kyoko bask in the pink ribbons and silk of the canopy bed and the crystal chandelier. As always, she'd tried to hide her adoration of girly things, to the point where he'd even thought that she'd been taken advantage by Tsuruga Ren…

He chuckled. This room was like cat-nip to Kyoko, and was a million times better than a stupid dog biscuit. Take that Ren!

Lory tapped his phone against his lips. Now why in the world would Kyoko disappear in the middle of filming? Hadn't she just promised him that she'd try her best to become a world-renowned actress?

He'd heard a little about a similar situation that happened on the first day of shooting [Dark Moon]. When she'd been having trouble with Mio, she'd left the set for several hours and returned with a much more powerful performance. Director Ogata had been thrilled. But the fact remained that she'd left the set in order to deepen her character. Could that be what she's doing again?

Oh, Kyoko, we're going to have to have a talk about that… he thought with a fatherly frown.

But then, there was also that incident in Karuizawa. He'd had to force the story out of Yashiro-san the day they returned because no one else would tell him. That time she'd gone missing because of a stalker.

He dialed her number hastily. He smoothed back his hair, trying to calm his racing thoughts. Come on, Kyoko… Please be safe! No matter what happened next, the President decided that Kyoko was well overdue in needing a manager. He'd assign one to her as soon as possible. No, sooner: tomorrow.

Now that he was in her contacts list, she would surely answer right away… or so he thought. But after 20 rings, the President gave up. Something had to be wrong. But other than phoning her, what else could he do? The director would already have personnel searching the area.

Well… There was one person who always seemed to come to Kyoko's rescue… but would calling him be considered "meddling"?

It didn't matter. She could be mad at him all she wanted. He was too worried.

He dialed the number.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Ren. I have some troubling news…"

"Well…" said Sho, sauntering over to Kyoko (who was still pretending to be in "Magical Kingdom" mode).

Now that he was satisfied that she wasn't hiding any Ren-related secrets from him, he could continue his "lesson" about being alone with men in hotel rooms.

"Since you're unfamiliar with what goes on in these rooms…"

He pulled out a remote from his pocket. With one button he dimmed the lights. Another button started up the stereo. Smooth jazz surrounded them.

Kyoko turned away from the glass slipper alarm clock she'd been admiring to find Sho unbuttoning his overcoat. She gulped in horror.

What was he doing? WHAT WAS HE DOING?!

"Maybe I can help… I mean, it is White Day, after all."

"So?" Kyoko asked in confusion. It was like the conversation with the President all over again. Why did everything come back to White Day?

Her question didn't surprise Sho in the least. He folded his coat over the edge of the couch and continued his approach, giving his walk a little extra swagger.

"It is customary for those given chocolates on Valentine's Day to give a return gift on White Day," Sho explained, now working on the buttons of his shirt.

"And since I gave you chocolate…"

Backing up, Kyoko gaped as Sho's shirt floated to the ground. The low lighting seemed to accentuate the shadows made between the defined muscles on his stomach and chest. Her mouth went dry. With her last step back, her legs bumped against the bed.

"It's your turn to give me something."

A/N: Yikes! BAD SHO! And... why wasn't Kyoko answering her phone? Hmm... Speculate!