As always, thank you very much for you who faved, followed, and reviewed the previous chapters. I noticed that readers favoriting "True Reflection" are still growing in number. I'm so happy and feel honored!
muchachomomo, this is your birthday present in clearer form! Thank you as well for the private reviews and for being able to stomach my rambling on the PMs! You're a great - although a little crazy :p- friend!
Disclaimer: I do not own Skip-Beat!
Chapter 9: Press Conference ~Wounds and Decisions~
In her apartment, Shoko was eyeing suspiciously her bottle blond charge who was fiddling with his guitar for a new song. After a moment, the stare grew vicious that Sho could not bear with it anymore.
"What?" he snapped, feeling annoyed to the very end.
"Sho," she murmured, still narrowing her eyes at him. "You're not thinking of saying something stupid at the press conference tomorrow, are you?"
He lifted one eyebrow in something Shoko recognized as amusement. "What're you talking about, Shoko-san?" he asked nonchalantly.
"You're not going to say anything unnecessary about your relationship with Kyoko, are you?" she elaborated.
A smug smile came across the singer's face, making her want to groan loudly. "You'll see."
"So?" Kanae asked through the phone. "What will you do?"
Kyoko sighed, her hand still grasping Kento's address. "I honestly don't know. What should I do, Moko-saaaaaaaaan?"
"WHY ARE YOU ASKING ME? MO!" the ravenette snapped. "This is your personal problem! Mo, think about it yourself!"
"Moko-san, you're cruel!" Kyoko whined.
Kanae groaned. "For Pete's sake, he's your father, right? He's apologized sincerely, what else do you need?"
"It's just," the chestnut-haired girl stammered, "What if he rejects me in the end?"
"Then just kick his ass."
She gasped. "Moko-san!"
"Mo, Kyoko," Kanae grumbled impatiently. "From what you told me earlier, he just wanted a chance to act properly like your father. And by the way, why were you so accepting to the fact that Akatoki-san was your relative but not when you met your father?"
"They're different cases."
"But that's just plain weird, mo!" the second LoveMe member stated. "Usually if someone meets a parent, even if he hasn't met the parent before, they will feel a strange connection with each other."
Kyoko's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Or so people say."
The younger actress fell comically to the floor. "Moko-san, that's not really convincing."
"I know," Kanae mumbled. "I don't even know what I was talking about. But hey, who's kidding? You know exactly the reason I'm in LoveMe."
"And don't you want to do something to improve that?" Kyoko asked curiously.
Her best friend automatically deadpanned, "Like hell I will. For something little, perhaps yes, but for something that requires me to be acting crazily doting towards my already insane family? No can do."
Kyoko could only chuckle.
"By the way, are you ready for the press conference tomorrow? Is your father coming?" Kanae asked, trying to change the subject of the conversation.
The pair of golden eyes widened as its owner felt blood draining from her face. "Oh no," she gasped. "I completely forgot about the press conference."
When Yoshimoto came to pick his charge at the Akatoki's apartment, he somehow managed to look less surprised than how he actually was as he found Kyoko, sleep-deprived and stressed out of her mind.
The girl was sitting on the couch with dark aura surrounding her; in her hands the notes about the possible questions and answers needed to counter the press later. Her mouth was moving in frenzy, spouting the answers she was memorizing as if chanting magic spells.
She was having her entire focus on the notes she did not sense Yoshimoto standing right in front of her and calling her name.
Marina came in with a plate full of sandwiches. "Good morning, Yoshimoto-san," she greeted him with a smile. "I hope you had a pleasant night rest?"
"I did, thank you for asking," he replied, glancing at the older woman for a few seconds before looking at Kyoko again worriedly.
The ghostwriter chuckled. "Apparently she forgot the fact that she was having a press conference today until Kotonami-san reminded her on the phone last night. I do not think it is wise to disturb her for the moment. Have you had breakfast?"
"No, I haven't," Yoshimoto answered. "How in the world could she forget?"
"A lot of things happened yesterday night," Marina answered sheepishly. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"That would be nice. Thank you for the offer, Akatoki-san." The manager glanced at Kyoko once more before walking towards the kitchen. "Would you like me to help?"
"No, thank you, although your thoughts are appreciated," she said, pouring the steaming hot coffee into a porcelain mug before handing it to Yoshimoto. "Things aside, I am curious of one thing. I notice that you have a rather silvery hue in your eyes."
Instinctively, his fingers flew to under his eyes. "Ah, yeah," he stuttered, completely taken aback by the sudden inquiry. "I heard that my grandma's mother was a Russian."
"Does your family come from Hokkaido?"
"My grandma does. She moved to Tokyo decades ago to marry my gramps."
Marina nodded. "I see. And I also notice that your charge has finally noticed your presence."
Yoshimoto turned around and, true to Marina's words, saw a pretty surprised Kyoko.
"Yoshimoto-san," she gasped. "Since when have you been here? I didn't notice you at all!"
"I figured as much," he grumbled, while the Akatoki female let out a small laugh.
In his hotel room, Kento was busy flipping the heavy phonebook he had found in the desk's drawer, looking for a particular Mogami in the 'M' section. So far, he had managed to find 'Mogami Kakeru', 'Mogami Saito', 'Mogami Tsuguo', and 'Mogami Reiichi'. No 'Mogami Saena' so far.
Maybe she lives in another person's place, he thought, raking his memories of the woman for any possible places she could be.
What he remembered of Saena was the knowledge that she was an only child raised by a single mother. Her father had died when she had been 7 years old, and before that her parents had long divorced. She had been living with her mother ever since, so Saena practically had no significant memories about her father. The pair of mother and daughter had lived in a rundown apartment, the only place affordable for them, until her mother remarried.
An idea hit him. Perhaps she moved back in with her mother? If I'm not mistaken, her mother's name was Saeko, and that time she remarried with a Takegawa…
He scanned the phonebook again for Takegawas. But soon, he stopped the search. Damn, I forgot the stepfather's name. He scowled. This search is going to be a total pain in the ass. There are a lot of females named Saeko alone in Tokyo.
His phone rang loudly, snapping him out of his wandering train of thoughts. He got up tiredly from the chair, a part of him happy for the sudden distraction. The display showed 'Minazuki Yayoi', and he was suddenly overcome with dread.
He gingerly pushed the answering button and brought the phone to his ears. "Hello?"
"SENSEIIIIIIIII!" a voice of a woman shrieked, making Kento instinctively threw his hand which was holding the phone as far as possible from his hearing appendage. "WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE YOU?!"
Kento gulped in fear. "Yayoi-chan."
"ANSWER ME! WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU, SENSEI?"
"Err…" he muttered guiltily. "Tokyo?"
An awkward silence ensued over the phone, and the woman screamed bloody murder. "WHY THE HECK ARE YOU IN TOKYO? SENSEI, YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE GOING TO STAY IN OSAKA UNTIL THE END OF THE EXHIBITION!"
"Well, something important came up, so–"
"WHAT ABOUT THE INTERVIEW APPOINTMENTS? THE GALA INVITATION? THE MEETINGS WITH ART CRITIQUES?"
The room phone rang. Saved by another phone. "Yayoi-chan, I have another call. I'll leave the arrangements all to you."
"Sensei, what–"
"I'll call you back later."
"But, Sen–" Kento disconnected the call abruptly while sighing in relief. Saved by the phone, he thought. Still having his cell phone in his hand, he walked over to the room phone on the bedside table.
"Room 307, Uehara speaking," he answered the phone with a rather uncaring tone. Must be the reception offering room service.
"Uehara-sama, there is someone by the name of Akatoki Seijuro wanting to speak with you. Should I connect him through?"
Seijuro-niisan? He was puzzled. "Yes, please do."
Soon, Seijuro's goofy, friendly voice was heard. "Hey, cousin! How are you today?"
"In detail?" the artist replied tiredly. "I was busy poring over the phonebook for any clue of Saena's location until my agent called me and let out a banshee-like shriek right into my delicate ear–"
He was butted in by the older Akatoki. "Okay, at least you're having a life going on. And that's not really the point of calling you."
"Then why asked?" Kento grumbled.
"The press conference will be starting soon. It's broadcasted live in almost all stations. I think you might want to know."
Kento was clueless. "What press conference?"
"Kyoko-chan's press conference, stupid, what else? Whoops, have to go. I'll see you soon."
The call was cut off, leaving the golden-eyed man speechless. He put the receiver back onto the phone station and reached for the remote control before turning the television on.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Lory began. "First of all, I would like to thank all of you for gathering here in my humble abode on this fine day."
All people in the large room sweat-dropped when they saw the flamboyant president standing on the stage beside the seated Kyoko, dressed as an onimusha. Marina, who was seated at the other end of the long table, had to do her best to not laugh.
While Kyoko had already decided to not think anything about her employer's antics and just focus on the serious matters, Sho and Shoko – who was standing near the stage beside Yoshimoto – were gob smacked. Is he seriously wearing that to a press conference? they screamed in their minds.
"Let's just get to the point," Lory continued with a serious face. "We are here to clarify the rumors started by an article published in Hinokuni Shinbun two days ago regarding the relationship between a talent of LME, KYOKO-san, and a singer of Akatoki Agency, Fuwa Sho-san.
"We hereby officially declare that the relationship between the two is strictly close friendship and has nothing romantic." The people from the press murmured noisily. "And although the arranged marriage is true, it is only acknowledged verbally by the Fuwa family, and KYOKO-san has not been notified of the arrangements. Thus, we can safely conclude that the arranged marriage is not obligated for both talents. Now, we permit questions."
Hands shot up among the crowds. Lory calmly called. "StarWeekly."
"KYOKO-san," the journalist began curiously. "In the article, it was also mentioned that you lived together with Fuwa-san's family since childhood because you were abandoned by your parents. Is this statement true?"
Lory and Sho, both sitting with her side by side, could feel Kyoko stiffening a bit. She heaved a huge breath in before clenching her fists and answering as calm as possible, as she had memorized from her notes.
"It's indeed true that I have been kindly taken in by the Fuwas when I was around 8 years old and lived with them until the moment I moved to Tokyo, but I believe that was because my mother was very busy with her work and was not able to take care of me."
"But there hasn't been any contact from her, is that correct?"
Kyoko gulped. "It's true, but she must have her reason, and I'm sure that she always has my wellbeing in her mind. To say that she abandoned me is uncalled for."
Another hand shot up. "Idol Beat," Lory gestured to the eager journalist.
"Takarada-san, from KYOKO-san's earlier statement, we can safely assume that she hasn't had any contact with her mother up to this moment, which means that she hasn't legally received permission to work in your agency from her mother. Are you not afraid of being sued?"
Lory raised one hand to silence the journalist. "I understand the implication of your statement, and indeed it was a very serious matter the first time KYOKO-kun joined LME. But as this moment, she has received permission to work in and debut as a talent of LME from her guardian, Akatoki Marina-san."
Loud, uneasy whispers and murmurs emerged from the journalists and reporters in front of them. More hands were raised. "CanCan." The journalist stood up instantly when Lory called his magazine's name.
"Akatoki-san, may we know your relationship with KYOKO-chan?"
"Of course you may," Marina answered with a smile she usually used for business matters. "I, and my older brother Seijuro, are relatives of Kyoko-san's father, who prefers to have his name not mentioned until all of us decide that the time is right to avoid more confusion regarding the matter we are addressing now. I am appointed Kyoko-san's legal guardian by him through written correspondence which can be assured as entirely legal by law."
Although my lawyers have to twist Kento's words a lot to make the letter presentable to the court, she added inwardly, cringing. No one is going to take a letter mentioning fairies.
Lory spoke again. "TeenMagz."
"KYOKO-san, if you have family members in Akatoki Agency, why did you choose to be employed in LME? Are you going to consider transferring to Akatoki Agency?"
Kyoko – actually, together with LME's PR division – had expected this question. "I've been employed in LME way long before I met Akatoki-san, and I've no intention to resign from LME and move to Akatoki Agency. This decision has been approved by both Marina-san and Seijuro-san."
She stole a glance to Lory who nodded approvingly at her before speaking again. "Girl's."
"This question is for all of you, although it might be more towards Fuwa-san," the columnist from 'Girl's' began. "In the article, the arranged marriage was mentioned by an anonymous source. Do you have any idea of who this anonymous source might be?"
Lory scowled a bit. If I have known, I'd have personally interrogated this anonymous. "Unfortunately, we haven't had any clue on this person. I think it might be best to ask Hinokuni Shinbun about this. Last question."
Hands were raised eagerly like hungry puppies. "HanaYume."
"A question for Fuwa-san. Is your declaration of love for KYOKO-san only a hoax to promote the new single?"
The room instantly was set into an uproar. Oh no, Shoko thought, not this question.
Sho smirked. "Honestly? No. I meant every word I told Sanada-san."
That f****** prick! Ren hissed in rage. At the moment he was having his break on the set, watching the press conference on his phone together with Yashiro. I swear, when I meet him the next time, I'll send his damn ass through unimaginable hell.
On the phone, he could see his boss and Marina seething with anger, glaring holes into Sho's head. Kyoko, on the other hand, looked ready to kill the singer right there and then.
The actress grabbed the microphone in front of her and, sweetly smiling – like what she had done to Kento the day before, Ren noticed – and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please calm down and listen. I will not say anything to deny Fuwa-san's declaration as a lie or a joke. But, I have to make it clear right now that I am NOT interested in accepting whatever his feelings towards me are. I only see Fuwa-san as a dear friend of mine."
Ren snorted in total contentment when he saw Sho's proud smirk fell. Atta girl, he thought. Good job, Kyoko.
Mogami Saena was channel flipping from her seat in her office, her eyes looking blankly at the screen. Her finger constantly pushed the button on the remote control, like she was a robot programmed to do just that.
However, her heart was full with uncontrollable wrath.
She had been wanting to watch the afternoon news, and turned on the TV only to find every station broadcasting a useless press conference of the celebrities she did not care to know. Her mood fell rapidly when she saw Sho and Kyoko, chestnut-haired, on the screen.
She had quickly grabbed the remote control and started looking for another channel, and finally stopped when she saw something different.
A female reporter was smiling happily to the camera; behind her was the view of a painting exhibition. "Good afternoon! This is Ketsuno Anna reporting from the Suzuki Convention Center, Osaka! As we can see, a lot of art enthusiasts can't wait to see the masterpieces done by our country's most prominent artists! And this time, the attention is directed solely towards an infamous artist that is making his comeback into Japan's art business after temporarily retiring for almost a decade: Uehara Kento-sensei!"
Saena's eyes widened at the mention of the name. A staff went to whisper something to the reporter, and her excitement went down a bit.
"Unfortunately, we could not meet Uehara-sensei today, since he is away, but let's talk to his representative, Minatsuki Yayoi-san!" The camera zoomed out to reveal another woman next to Ketsuno, dressed in simple blouse and skirt. Her long hair was braided on the back, and a pair of metal-framed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.
Ketsuno chirped again. "Minatsuki-san, Uehara-sensei's sudden decision of coming back to Japan is rather surprising, isn't it? Can you tell us the reason why he decided to come back?"
"I'm not really sure," Minatsuki chuckled lightly. "But I think he has had enough of travelling and finding himself."
"And why is he not here?"
"He has some business in Tokyo he has to manage, he told me so." Minatsuki sighed. "So for people who want to see his face, there is the main attraction of this exhibition: his first portrait, and furthermore of himself."
Minatsuki gestured to one of the displayed paintings on the wall, and the camera shifted to focus on the picture of a man with black hair and golden eyes.
Panic and dread attacked Saena's entire being. Beads of cold sweat rolled down her temple. Her hand tightened her grip on the remote control, and before she realized it, the device had made hard contact with the television, shattering it and leaving the TV screen cracked.
An urgent knock was heard from her door. "Mogami-sensei!" her assistant asked worriedly. "What happened in there, Mogami-sensei?"
Huffing furiously and drenched in cold sweats, Saena grabbed her purse and slammed the door open, startling the poor assistant. Without saying anything, she strode past her in panic, bumping her shoulder with the other person's and left the office.
The assistant, confused beyond words, walked gingerly into the empty room and gasped in shock. The space was like hell broke loose; little shards of glass from the cracked TV screen mixed with the broken remote control, papers strewn all over the desk, and on top of the coffee table, there was the gossip column of Hinokuni Shinbun published two days ago, the picture of KYOKO ripped to nothing with a pair of scissors resting beside it.
The artist sighed heavily for the umpteenth time that day, finally giving up on the search. Might as well hire a private eye, he thought grimly. May be someone like that famous… who's his name again? Mori Kogoro?
Resting his tired eyes, he evened his breathing. His thoughts wandered to the press conference he watched hours ago, and a smile spread across his face. She was so great and dazzling in there, he admitted proudly. I'm very lucky to have you as a daughter, Kyoko-san.
A knock interrupted his daydream. Puzzled, he opened his eyes, got up from the chair, walked to the door. He opened it to reveal chestnut hair below his eyesight.
Mogami Kyoko stood in front of him with blush on her face, her fingers fidgeting, her golden eyes looking at him nervously.
Additional disclaimers:
-I do not own Ketsuno Anna; Sorachi Hideaki-sensei does
-I also do not own Mori Kogoro and Suzuki Convention Center; Aoyama Gosho-sensei does
-As I am at it, I do not own 'CanCan' as well; I believe Arai Kiyoko-sensei does
-'Idol Beat' is borrowed from FaerieLight (thanks a lot ;))
-And... Obviously, I do not own 'HanaYume' (I was running out of magazine name ideas)
-Lory's cosplay idea is courtesy to GinGitsuneIX. Your ideas are fantastic.
-And I think I need to mention that 'Mogami Tsuguo' is a rightful existing person on his own; I'm not sure about the other Mogamis, though.
Please review :) Thank you!