Chapter Five: Phone Tag
Early Saturday morning Kyouko and Ren were presented to a tall, wiry man whom they were told to call Katashi-sensei. He would be instructing them on the finer points of martial arts for their impending sparring scene. Katashi looked fierce and unyielding and he proved to be very much as he appeared.
"If you stumble one more time, I'll break your nose!" he threatened Ren. Ren looked unsure whether to take the martial artist seriously or not. In the end, he tried very hard not to stumble again.
For as harsh as Katashi was on Ren, he was equally forgiving of all Kyouko's mistakes. She could not comprehend his reasons for such contradictory behavior. She pitied Ren, since he looked terribly frustrated, and urged Katashi to be as strict as possible about her forms.
"You're a natural, Mogami-chan," he insisted. Though she was by no means a natural, Kyouko was admittedly rather good. But the other reason for Kataski's action was that he happened to have a rather large soft spot for young girls, being the father of three burping and otherwise ridiculous teenage boys.
Ren and Kyouko both bowed to Katashi at the end of their training session. "We will begin choreographing your sparring scene Monday," he said, returning the bow. "And hopefully everything you learned doesn't fall out of that empty head of yours," he added to Ren narrowing his eyes. Ren simply blinked in bewilderment, wondering exactly what he had done to offend Katashi.
"I don't understand," he said earnestly to Kyouko as they were leaving. "Was I rude and didn't notice?"
Kyouko felt a little uncomfortable under his doe-eyed gaze. It reminded her of the time he'd asked Bo the Chicken for translating tips. She looked away. "I don't think so, Tsuruga-san," she replied. "Katashi-sensei was very nice to me. Maybe he's one of those people who doesn't like big celebrities? I'm still new at this after all."
Ren gave her an indecipherable look. "Mogami-san, you're not exactly a newbie anymore. Have you missed the fact that you have a manager and have been the lead in a number of different productions?"
Kyouko frowned and looked at her feet. "No, but I'm nowhere near your level, Tsuruga-san."
Ren wanted to point out that she was closer than she thought considering she was his co-star, but he was still coping with that pitiable fact that he didn't think he could manage to form any such sentence. Instead he said, "You work very hard, Mogami-san, and it's already gotten you very far in a short amount of time."
A blush crept up Kyouko's cheeks and she didn't say anything in response. She wanted to tell Ren that he was being too nice to her, but if he realized that he might stop. For some reason, and Kyouko could not begin to figure out why, his compliments made her feel rather warm and fuzzy inside.
She changed the subject. "What are you up to today, Tsuruga-san?"
Ren glanced at his watch. "I have to pick up Yashiro. I have a photo shoot in Osaka, but I'll be back Sunday night."
Kyouko smiled. "Make sure you eat well and get enough sleep. Or Yashiro-san will be in trouble," she added, grinning wickedly.
Ren laughed. "Do you need a ride?" he asked as they finally got out of the studio's long, twisting corridors and into the parking lot.
"If you could bring me home that would be wonderful. Moko-san is coming over later and we're going to the gym," she added.
"Ah, building up your muscle mass so you can give me even more bruises when we have to spar," he teased.
Kyouko looked scandalized. "I would never give Tsuruga-san bruises!" she declared loudly getting into the car.
Ren simply smirked. "We'll see."
Yashiro glanced sidelong at Ren as they drove to the airport. "How was your martial arts session this morning with Katashi-sensei?" he asked slyly.
"Fine," Ren replied indifferently.
"I ask," Yashiro continued, "because Kyouko-chan called me and said that Katashi-sensei was giving you a particularly hard time."
"It's not a big deal," Ren said, keeping his attention focused on the road. Why did Yashiro have to pry like this?
"Kyouko-chan seemed to be rather worried about you," Yashiro said softly. Ren stiffened noticeably and Yashiro swore he could see a small, genuine smile forming on his lips.
"I hope you didn't increase her worries unnecessarily, Yashiro," Ren replied pointedly, without any shift in tone.
"Of course not. I told her that you were a reasonable man and certainly wouldn't take Katashi-sensei's comments to heart." Yashiro turned to look out the window. He was pondering his next great maneuver in the chess game known as Ren's love life. "I suppose it's nice though to have Kyouko-chan care about you so much," he said quietly. He knew that Ren was hanging on his every word.
"One phone call doesn't equate to deep caring," Ren said, mostly trying to convince himself and Yashiro knew it. He smiled as though he had a secret. "Unless… unless she said something else to you?" Ren asked, seeing the devious grin on Yashiro's face.
"Success!" Yashiro cried silently. He turned back to Ren. "I couldn't tell you that," he said vaguely. "It's something you'll have to discover for yourself."
Ren frowned. The atmosphere in the car became cold and unforgiving. Quite frankly it frightened Yashiro, but if his plan was to work he would have to endure it. "Come now, Ren," he said gently. "We're almost to the airport. You can't face the paparazzi with such a frown on your face!"
Almost immediately, Ren effected a change. A fake smile replaced his frown and was, if anything, even more frightening. Yashiro couldn't argue though. It would fool the press at least and that was all that mattered. On some level he probably deserved to suffer just a little bit for his meddling behavior, or so he thought. As long as they named some children after him and they called him Uncle Yashiro…
Kyouko had collapsed onto her couch the minute she closed the door to her apartment that night. She had been fine during the day, but now she was feeling the stress on her body from training with Katashi-sensei that morning. She wanted nothing more than to stay sprawled on her couch in an ungainly manner, but her stomach was rumbling and on top of that she had promised her "father" Hizuri Kuu that she would call him every Saturday.
"Mmnn," she moaned, rolling onto her back and sliding towards the end table where the phone was. "Otou-san first," Kyouko muttered, lifting the cordless phone off the receiver. She dialed absently without paying much attention. She could have called Kuu in her sleep.
He picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"
"Otou-san!" she cried into the receiver as she usually did. Kyouko swore she could hear him smiling.
"Kyouko-chan! It's been so long—"
"A week," she interrupted teasingly.
"Cheeky," Kuu muttered. "How are you?"
"I'm very good. Though a little sore," she admitted.
"What happened?" Kuu asked right on cue. He was probably wearing an overly-worried expression like fathers did when their daughter's were hurt. The thought made Kyouko want to giggle.
"Well I'm starring in this new mini-series called Duty Binds Us. I play a soldier and there's this big fight scene, so I've got lessons with Katashi-sensei on martial arts. And I guess that's why my muscles hurt."
"Oh, my poor daughter," Kuu said, exaggerating on purpose. "And you're all alone too?"
Kyouko couldn't contain her laugh this time. "I'm perfectly fine, otou-san," she insisted. "I can look after myself. Now, Tsuruga-san, he's the one you should worry about. He's in the fight scene with me and I bet his muscles are hurting too. If Yashiro-san weren't with him I'd be worried that Tsuruga-san had collapsed somewhere alone in Osaka."
"So the famous Tsuruga-san is in Osaka?"
"For a photo shoot," Kyouko supplied. "He'll be back on Sunday night though since we have more martial arts training on Monday and shooting for Duty Binds Us starts Tuesday."
"Well you sure are busy," Kuu said. "No wonder it took you so long to call your poor, lonely father."
"Tch. So dramatic," Kyouko replied. "I called you exactly one week ago. Like always."
"You make it sound like a chore," he accused.
"Of course not. Don't be silly. I love calling you, otou-san!"
Ren sat in his hotel room pondering his cell phone for at least an hour. "I just saw her this morning," he said quietly to himself, even though Yashiro was in the shower and couldn't possibly hear him. "Why do I want to call her now?" His fingers drummed absently on the coffee table in the spacious hotel suite.
"She might think it's strange. But then, she called Yashiro-san about me right after I saw her this morning. Though she was worried about me… and if she was worried about me she'll want to hear from me to be reassured right? Even though Yashiro-san already assured her I would be all right?"
Ren's lower lip was getting rather dry from his obsessive, anxious chewing on it. "If I call her it will just be giving in to everyone. They don't understand that it will ruin everything if I…" He could even finish his sentence. "But I want to call her."
He reached for the phone, touched it briefly, then recoiled as if he'd been burned or stung. "I shouldn't," he told himself firmly. His resolve was wavering. "Damn, I need more strength to endure this!" He got up, stretching out his long legs and turned towards the balcony, thinking fresh air might clear his silly head. Ren glanced back briefly at his cell phone and quickly—as if speed might make him forget that he had done it—pocketed the electronic.
Stars lay hidden in a hazy fog of the city's neon lights. Vibrant pinks and oranges drew Ren's eyes away from the sky and down into the tangled maze of skyscrapers and buildings. He fingered the phone in his pocket, still agitated. A soft, cool wind was blowing through the streets. Ren was starting to think that maybe he ought to have brought a jacket out with him. It was January after all.
In retrospect, Ren decided to blame the cold for his weakness. It clearly had a numbing effect on his brain which caused him to abandon all sense of reason. Or something like that.
He pressed a few buttons and listened to the phone ring.
Kyouko was sitting on her kitchen counter having just finished putting away the last of her clean dishes from dinner. While she was talking with Kuu he had heard her stomach rumbling over the phone and had insisted she eat. Rather than hang up, Kyouko had continued to talk to him on speaker phone while she cooked, ate, and cleaned the mess. They had easily been talking for over an hour and Kuu still seemed to have endless stories to tell her, mostly about his old high school buddies and their various antics and shenanigans.
In the midst of one of these stories, Kyouko heard her cell phone ringing from her purse in the other room where she had left it when she had gotten home that night. Taking the cordless phone with her, she went to investigate. A familiar number flashed across the screen and she smiled.
"Otou-san," she interrupted. "I'm sorry, but I've got another call. It's Tsuruga-san."
Kuu pouted on the other side of the phone. "Hmph, so Tsuruga Ren is more important than your father."
"Both of you are very important to me," Kyouko replied peaceably. "I'll call you tomorrow, I promise."
"Alright then. Goodbye, Kyouko-chan."
"Bye!"
Kyouko hung up the cordless and dived for her cell phone before Ren gave up and it stopped ringing. "Tsuruga-san?"
She could hear the overwhelming warmth in his response. "How are you, Mogami-san?" Kyouko smiled and closed her eyes. His voice on the other side of the phone was like a comforting embrace.
"I'm good. A little sore from this morning, but good. How are you, Tsuruga-san?"
"V-very much the same."
"Are your teeth chattering, Tsuruga-san? Don't tell me you're outside in the cold? Do you know how low the temperature is in Osaka?"
"I was just going inside," Ren replied.
"He's like a child," Kyouko thought.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," Ren added.
"Until he says something like that," she amended. "How was your photo shoot, Tsuruga-san?"
"It was good. It was for a magazine cover, so that should be out on the racks in a month or two." He paused. "I'm not exactly sure when they're planning on using the photo. I ought to ask Yashiro."
Kyouko smiled. "I'm glad everything went well."
Ren chewed on his lip for a moment, wondering whether he should say what he was thinking. "Mogami-san, are you… are you worried about acting in Duty Binds Us? I mean as your senpai, you aren't uncomfortable with… with our roles?" He hated the pauses in between in words and the unsure tone with which he spoke.
"When I first was offered the role, Sawara-san told me that even though I was the sort of person placed in the Love Me section, that he thought I could be a good Moyami Rin," Kyouko replied slowly. "I was worried even though Sawara-san and Sorata-san had confidence in me. I feel better knowing that you will be there to help me, Tsuruga-san. I won't be caught by your acting like last time," she added. "I'll show you my own acting skills."
Ren closed his eyes, half in relief and half in despair. She had misinterpreted his question, but he supposed that was his fault for being vague. It had been too embarrassing to be specific though. "I have no doubt that I will see some amazing acting from you, Mogami-san," he replied at last.
He was still out on the balcony and he was startled by a gentle tap on the glass door behind him. It was Yashiro. "I have to go, Mogami-san. I'll see you when I get back."
"Goodbye, Tsuruga-san!"
"What were you doing out in the cold? Do you know what the temperature is out there?" Yashiro demanded.
"Yes," Ren said sullenly.
"Pssh! What would Kyouko-chan say?"
"Something rather similar," Ren muttered under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Author's Note: So this chapter was mostly fluffy cuteness, so to make up for that, next chapter gets a little more serious and also hilarious... hmmm, how does that work? And now I give credit to my reviewers, who do the most important job of all, boost my ego and make me feel good about myself, and also say really important relevant things that improve your story experience. So kudos to you, reviewers. Keep up the good work! :D I love you to death. And oooh, fun fact. I actually did research for this chapter, meaning I went on the internet and searched for pictures of the Osaka skyline at night and what the average temperatures are during the year there (funnily enough the climate seems rather like where I live o_o? (does not live anywhere near Japan)... sigh). Alright, I think I've wasted enough of your awesome time. Valete omnes! (bonus points if you know what that means).
