Kyoko was packing her bags. Taking just her essentials, she folded every item neatly before placing them into her suit case. She tucked the small purple-blue stone that she kept by her bedside into a pink purse. Her fingers clutched the silk purse tightly.
Normally, the magical stone would have been enough to help her feel comforted and deal with the many scars that life had dealt her. But this time her hurt was too deep. "Sorry, Corn. It seems like even your magic won't work on me any longer," she whispered softly to it, before packing it away as well.
Walking over to the door of her small room, she penciled a quick note to Okami-san and Taisho. She was grateful that they were downstairs in the kitchen cleaning up from the day's lunch and dinner crowd. The elderly couple were always busy at this time of night, so they wouldn't be thinking about checking in on her.
She didn't think she would have the heart to explain her current intentions to them. She barely understood them herself. Taking the note, she taped it to their bedroom door before carrying her belongings and silently leaving the restaurant.
Outside, she took a long moment to glance at the warm establishment. The wooden Darumaya plaque proudly hung above the entry way. Though she had only lived there for a short while, she felt a sharp ache in her chest, as she finally turned away. With legs that weighed heavily, she carried her suitcase and left.
Her thoughts returned to the morning's shooting of Box-R. After Tsuruga-san had left, her ability to act had been compromised. Even despite several takes, she was so emotionally distraught, that the director had sat her down in private to have a word with her. His kind words of encouragement had brought her to tears.
Kyoko, it is apparent that you cannot act anymore today. Take some time to gather yourself then come back. In the meantime, we will be here waiting for you.
As she recalled his advice, her chin trembled. It was already starting. She knew this feeling all too well. This was how it would begin; this crushing pain that came with the festering wound. It was because she felt something so strong within her, for someone who felt nothing for her.
It was also the slow death to her spirit. Stopping, she closed her eyes, she could feel herself falling and plunging down the cliff. She could even envision Tsuruga-san watching her with something akin to sympathy on his face. Her grip tightened on her suitcase and she shifted her weight.
No, it didn't matter, even if the Shinigami took her soul, she wouldn't let anything matter anymore. She was practically dead anyway. She was going to deal with this catastrophe her own way. She was the one that had jumped off the cliff anyway; it would be a fitting end to the fleeting life she had led.
This life she had led was no longer appealing to her, it just wasn't enough. Her world had already diverged way too much from what she had intended it to be. It had all started the moment Tsuruga-san had entered her life. His melting touch had not only inflamed her senses but she was burnt to a charcoal crisp by him on the outside, while she was still frozen raw on the inside.
But she couldn't blame him, nor could she take back what she had done or said to him. This was exactly what she had expected would happen. There was no way someone like her could learn to love. It was something that god did not intend for her to ever experience anyway. She could see that now but it wasn't too late for her to take back control.
Raising her head, she opened eyes so bright, that they were blazing with an inner flame. Her shoulders were squared straight and her chin was held high, as she was determined not to fall apart. Walking briskly she was surrounded by the stares of strangers, as she passed by. Her boots sounded loudly with every lonely step she took.
While walking past a store's mirror, her eyes caught sight of her own reflection. Slowing down, she examined her appearance. The dark spirit overshadowing her features made her almost smile. This is who I must be from now on, she reminded herself.
Feeling like she was really the girl that her reflection reflected, her heart pounded fiercely in her chest. Swiping her long blonde hair off her shoulders, she left the last remnant of her reserve behind.
Ren threw his script on the floor and leaned back onto this sofa, annoyed with himself for not being able to concentrate on memorizing his lines. Reaching over to this coffee table, he poured himself a glass of Pappy Van Winkle, his favorite 20 year old bourbon.
Smiling sardonically, he swished the amber liquid in his mouth appreciatively, before swallowing the liquid. The rare Kentucky bourbon reminded him of his American roots and despite his determination to hide those roots; he was unwilling to compromise when it came to his selection in beverages. Only a real American drink will do to settle his homesick heart.
Homesick? Ren paused as he thought about his family. It had seemed like just yesterday when he had arrived in Japan. Yet so much has changed in his life in the past few years. Even his Tsuruga Ren persona had finally merged into his true self, Kuon Hizuri. Had he finally learnt that Ren and Kuon were one and the same person?
A faint smile drew his lips up as he remembered how unfazed he had been, while watching Natsu's bullying of Chitose. There was a time when he, as Kuon, would have torn apart anyone that could call another person a mutant. However, that was no longer the case. A grim look overtook him as he recognized why.
It was because of Kyoko that he was able to remain calm now. It was her and not Rick that he had chosen after all. His hands clutched his glass tightly, while he took another swallow of his drink. Rick would have loved her. He would have been delighted with her because she was able to tame the beast that Kuon once was.
He could almost hear Rick's voice in his head suggesting that 'Ren' quit being a chicken and confess his feelings to Kyoko. Rick would have said that even if she didn't love him, he should man up about his feelings. Rick's favorite motto was that a real man doesn't need to live in fear about anything. And that would have applied to love, as well.
But Ren was stymied - like a game of chess; he had been checkmate and was out of moves. On the one hand, he was delighted that Kyoko was finally seeing him as a man, on the other hand, he hated that all she wanted from him was a physical relationship. Recalling the way he had made love to her, Ren closed his eyes in remorse.
Made love? It was more like fucking. There was no love in the carnal connection they had shared earlier that afternoon. It was totally unemotional and yet she had moaned in delight over the empty act. Seeing her that way was almost intolerable.
Ren clenched the small glass so tightly, that it shattered in his hand, spilling its contents on his thick carpet. He looked down at his hand; a large single laceration formed across the center of his palm, and instantly, it began spilling blood.
Standing up, he walked into his kitchen to get a towel. It was while he was holding pressure to the wound when his doorbell rang. Glancing up, he walked over to his door, wondering who could be calling at such a late hour.
Opening his door slightly, Ren poked his head out and became temporally speechless. Standing erect and proud was Setsu, holding a suitcase in one hand and her shoulder purse in the other.
"Nii-san, I thought you would be surprise to see me," she purred. Her eyes held his steady as she smiled up into his bewildered eyes.
Ren's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he fought to find his voice. His hand continued to drip blood but he could do nothing to stop it, as he dropped the towel. He wondered briefly if she was a hallucination brought on by his blood loss.
Setsu bent down and picking the blood soaked towel up in her hand, she slapped it onto his wounded hand. Pushing the towel down hard, she held it compressed against his wound. Her burning eyes spoke louder than her actual words when she said, "Looks like you hurt yourself, hope you weren't too badly injured."
Ren's mouth fell open with the flames of fire he saw in her eyes. He knew now that she was not the byproduct of his emotionally filled mind. Yet this person somehow wasn't Kyoko's normal depiction of Setsu either. And was she trying to imply something about him hurting himself? Had she finally recognised his feelings for her?
"You look like a cat has got your tongue," Setsu stated. "Why don't you move out of the way, so that I can come in?"
"Setsu? What are you doing here?" Ren asked, as he took a step away, allowing her entry into his home.
"I'm your wife, remember? Shouldn't we be living together if that's what we have become?" Setsu inquired with a beautifully arched brow raised slightly at him.
Ren swallowed audibly and nodding, he shut the door behind her. Following her into his living room, he still couldn't believe that Kyoko was here in his apartment. Was she planning on moving in? What was she playing at? Or should he be asking what was Setsu playing at? A tight frown marred his face in worry.
"What's wrong? You don't look happy to see me?" Setsu drawled when she noticed his tensed look.
Ren's face changed instantly and with a mild smile, he quickly assured her, "No, it's not that. I'm just surprise that you are here."
"Would you rather I left?" she asked, while she started to turn back towards the door, as if she was about to leave.
Shaking his head, Ren took a step in front of her to deter her from moving. Holding his hands out to block her on either side, he firmly said, "By all means, you should definitely stay."
Smiling coyly at the tall handsome actor, Setsu reached up to plant a tender kiss on his check. "Thank you, Nii-san."
Turning away, she walked further into the living room. With a glance over her shoulder she asked brightly, "Well, which room should I take?"
Again Ren swallowed audible, as he contemplated her question. Should he show her to the guest room or should he share his bedroom with her? Every bone in his body was screaming at him in protest, when he walked up to her and taking her heavy suitcase, he led her into his guest room.
"You can stay here," he solemnly said.
Nodding at him, Setsu jumped onto the soft bed. Rolling over onto her back, she smiled up at him. Her eyes were dancing with mischief. Patting an empty spot beside her, she indicated for him to come join her.
A muscle twitched in Ren's clenched jaw. He knew she was up to something and feeling like he was walking into her trap, Ren cautiously took three large steps and joined her on the bed. Sitting down beside her, he waited for her to explain herself.
But instead of an explanation, Setsu wrapped her arms tightly around Ren's waist. Burying her face in his hard chest, she rested herself on his lap. With a satisfied sigh, she softly said, "I love you."
Ren's hands shook uncontrollably when he lifted it up to stroke the small of her back and lovingly he replied, "I love you too."
Setsu's voice cracked as she choked out, "God, I wish we could just go away. Leave Japan and go back to America. Go home and never come back to this stupid country again!"
Ren hesitated briefly, "Do you really mean that?"
Sighing heavily, Setsu rubbed her cheek along the wall of his chest. "Yes, but I also wished that you and I weren't who we are. I really want you to be anyone other than you, so that we could really be married."
"So would you be fine if I wasn't Cain or even the person on our marriage certificate, as well but was someone else?" Ren breathed out, in barely a whisper.
Nodding, Setsu lifted her large eyes up to Ren. Shyly, she laid a small hand tenderly on his face and pouring her feelings into her words, she answered, "I would love you no matter who you really were."
Holding both her hands tightly in his large, warm ones, Ren searched her face. He was looking to see if she was ready for the truth. Would this be the opportunity of a life time to reveal himself to her? Recalling Rick's motto that a real man doesn't need to live in fear, Ren decided to take that chance.
His throat constricted painfully but with a tight voice he finally admitted, "Then please listen to me because I would like to tell you the truth about who I am."
Setsu paused at the sudden seriousness in Ren's tone. Straightening up she waited patiently for Ren to begin.
"My real name is Kuon Hizuri. I am an American born actor but you would not have heard of me. However, it is my father that you have heard of. His name is Kuu Hizuri"
Tension filled the room as Ren watched Setsu's eyes blink wide. It took several moments before they change from confusion to surprise to something that Ren could no longer identify.
Pushing away from him, Kyoko licked at her lips. Her face flushed red, while she fought to think of a reply. Should she still pretend to be Setsu? Reading the emotionally charged room, Kyoko decided that Tsuruga-san was not acting as Cain any longer.
If that was so, then what he said meant….Her eyes widened in realisation as she gasped, "You are Kuon?"
"Yes," Ren answered honestly.
Kyoko waited a full minute to digest that information before she asked, "Wait, does that mean you are really an American?"
Nodding, Ren answered, "Yes."
Her mind was bursting with questions but something about the way Tsuruga-san was watching her was making her sense that she did not fully understand the entire scope of his revelation.
With narrowed eyes, she inquired suspiciously, "Is there something else that you are not telling me?"
Ren grimaced when he realized that she was picking up on his uneasy demeanor. Forcing himself to reply, he painfully and apprehensively confessed, "Yes, there is. But before I tell you, you must promise me that you won't be mad."
Waiting for her to nod in comply, he took her hands and held it firmly in his large warm hands. With a heart that was beating furiously in his chest, he braced himself as he admitted, "We knew each other when we were children."
A look of confusion crossed Kyoko's face and she started to shake her head in denial, when Ren's words stilled her. "It's true, except you thought I was a fairy. In fact, I had led you to believe that I was a fairy prince and you would call me by the name, Corn."
Like a loud echo, his name filled Kyoko's mind. Corn. Corn. Corn.
An image of her as a little girl, playing by the river bed came to mind. In it was a taller boy, who had light blonde hair and eyes that were the deepest green she had ever seen. Together, they would spend the entire afternoon amusing themselves with stories and funny feats. Laughingly, Corn would spring up and spiral through the air, almost as if he was about to take off in flight.
"No, that can't be true. Corn had blonde hair and green eyes," Kyoko asserted in denial.
"It is true. I am wearing contact lens to change my eye colour and my hair has been dyed to a darker shade as well. I really am Corn." Ren quickly confirmed.
Kyoko's heart slammed painfully against her ribcage. His final words penetrated her confused mind and clarity began to sink in. Tugging her cold hands out of his grasp, Kyoko stood up. Her voice was desperate as she stumbled away from him, "Stop, I don't think I can take any more of this."
Ren's heart sank from her words. Nodding at her tensed and daunted form, he rose slowly from the bed. "I'm sorry, I never meant to lie to you."
Covering her face in her hands, Kyoko's closed her eyes tightly. With a low groan she cried into her hands. The sound was filled with pain and pierced Ren to his deepest depths. He stood there strained and powerless, although he wanted to comfort her.
After a long while, Kyoko lifted her tear stained face and with eyes that were dull and lifeless, she declared in an emotionless tone, "I don't care anymore."
Taking another step away from him, she pointed to the door and brokenly wept, "Nii-san, I…think…it would…be best…if you took care of your bleeding hand."
Taking his cue from her defensive stance, Ren walked over to the door. His shoulders were sagged in
misery, with every heavy movement he took. Reaching the door, he turned back and casted a last longing look at her. His voice was rich with sorrow as he said, "I'm sorry, I'll go now."
The door closed behind him with a soft 'thud'. And with the emptiness and silence of what followed in the lonely room, Kyoko pulled off her wedding rings and threw it across the room. Both small jewels barely made any noise as they hit the carpeted floor and rolled under the bed.
Unsatisfied with the effect, she rushed over to her belongings. Reaching in to pull out the pink purse that contained Corn, she pulled the dark stone out. Walking over to the window, she pulled the glass panels open. Staring out at the night sky, she hesitated for a slight moment before she threw the cold stone as far out as she possibly could.
Her eyes followed the gem that she had treasured for so long, as it flew into the night, until it was no longer visible. With a weak smile, she wiped away a single tear that had fallen down her pale cheek. "This really is the end for me," she whispered softly. Only the quiet sounds of the night's city traffic sounded, as if in answer to her comment.
Yashiro was walking hand in hand with Kanae towards the LME building when a ringing sound interrupted them. The beautiful brunet stopped and with an apologetic look, she lifted her cell phone out of her purse.
Frowning in puzzlement, her lips were pursed tightly. "It's a number that I am not sure of," she stated when Yashiro's eyebrow raised at her in question.
"Well then are you going to answer it? It might be some advertisement company that may want to steal you away from LME," Yashiro teased as she watched her flustered face.
Nodding with an amused twist of a smile on her lips, she brightly answered, "Hello?"
Ren's voice was filled with worry as he answered, "Hello is this Kotonami-san? This is Ren."
A flash of concern lit her eyes at his tone, before she answered, "Yes Tsuruga-san, this is. Is something wrong?"
"Kotonami-san, Kyoko is missing." His voice was filled with anxiety as he continued to explain to her the events of last night.
Yashiro's face changed instantly when he saw the look of fear that stretched across Kanae's face. Like a second nature, he put a glove on his hand before he tugged the phone out of the upset brunette's tensed hand.
"Hello, Ren? It's Yashiro. What's going on?" his voice was laced with concern and he shifted his weight impatiently.
His eyes widen then narrowed into slits, when he heard Ren's explanation. A sudden chill ran down his spine. Shaking off the feeling, he answered Ren reassuringly, "I'll help Kanae look for her and cancel all your appointments for today. She might return, so you should stay where you are for now."
Hanging up, he eyed Kanae's frozen figure. Trying to suppress his apprehensions, he calmly and slowly took Kanae into his arms. Resting a chin on her head, he stoked her hair. "Don't worry, we'll find her."
Several tears began to fall down Kanae's pale cheek as she whispered, "But Ren said that he had shared a personal secrete with her yet she had left? That just doesn't make sense to me. After all she loves him and they are married!"
Coming to an abrupt halt, Yashiro's eye rounded widely. Sputtering in shock, he held Kanae tightly by the shoulders and not so gently shook her, while he asked her, "What did you just say?"
Raising a wary look up at Yashiro, Kanae guardedly repeated herself, "She loves him and they are married."
Slapping his forehead head loudly, Yashiro's roared, "Now you tell me?!"
Firing question after question out, while not waiting for a response, he continued, "When did you know that they were married? How come no one told me? Does anyone else know about this? Wait, that's not really what's important now. First, we need to know if Ren knows she loves him?"
Yashiro's eyes waved from side to side and he paused. Kanae mouth opened and she went to answer him when Yashiro interrupted her, "Of course he doesn't know. That relationship idiot wouldn't know or believe it even if she were to confess to him that she wanted him as a man!"
"Damn! How dysfunctional can they both be?" Yashiro grumbled, as he turned away in irritation.
Clearing her throat, Kanae interrupted Yashiro's soliloquy, "Yashiro, does Tsuruga-san love Kyoko?"
Looking at Kanae with wide eyes that confirmed how ridiculas her question sounded, he stammered, "Does he l-love her? Of course he loves her! He's madly, insanely, stupidly, addictively, crazy in love with her!"
Kanae's eyes glowed with anger as she countered, "Well, why didn't you tell me? Don't you think that that's an important piece of information that you were withholding from me? How the hell do you think I could help Kyoko trust Ren if she didn't know he loved her?"
Without waiting for him to answer, she continued to lash out her fury at no one in particular, "Could that have been the reason she fled?"
Her hands flew up to cup her cheek, while she made a look of incredulity. Her tone was harsh, as she answered her own question, "Without doubt, it had to be. Of all the silliest things ever! Why can't they just have an open and honest talk with each other? For two otherwise smart individuals, they are completely two of the dumbest love struck morons, I have ever met!"
Her chest was heaving with rage as she breathed in loudly. Her eyes were flaming and taking a moment to contain her temper, she mentally counted to ten. Yashiro was doing the same.
With a clenched jaw, he nodded in accord to Kanae. Stretching out a large hand, he asked, "Shall we then?"
Looking at his hand before she placed her smaller hand steadily within his, she evenly replied, "Yes."
Both hands locked together tightly. And at the same moment, they both turned towards the LME and entered as a united force.
A/N: Hi everyone. Thanks, for all your reviews from my last chapter.
I ended up adding a few lines to soften the impact of RxK's sexual moment at the request of Feathered Phoenix.
I will continue to strive to cater to all your reviews, so please continue to share your opinions with me.