Chapter 5: A Distressing Discovery

"Hello, Ren," Yashiro greeted him. "Would you like to explain this all to me? Or should I ask Kyoko-chan?"

Ren stood frozen as his mind tried to think of a way to explain this away. How much did Yashiro know anyway?

"Yashiro, what are you doing here?" he asked, forcing a fake smile into his face. Maybe I can tell him I was just testing out to see how I'd look as a blond?

"I saw you with Kyoko-chan."

Well, so much for that.

Yashiro continued. "Well, I thought I saw you with her, then I realized it couldn't be you because you are not blond. So I came back here to talk with you about it, but when I got here, there was no sign of you. Instead I found this hair dye." He held up the half empty bottle.

Ren sighed as he sat down in a chair. I guess it'll be best to tell him. Otherwise he might go to Kyoko for answers. "All right. Let me just get back to normal, and then I'll tell you everything."

Yashiro nodded but kept still until Ren had entered the bathroom. Then he clapped his hands excitedly. I'm going to be trusted with a secret! He squealed inwardly.

Ren quickly put in his hair dye. He wouldn't be able to leave it in for the full treatment time but hopefully it would be enough. He stepped back out to talk to his manager, leaving his head wrapped in a shower cap.

Ren pulled a chair over to where Yashiro was sitting on the bed. He sat down and looked at his manager seriously. "Yukihito, everything I'm about to tell you is a secret. The only people who know everything will be you and me. Although the President does know a fair amount of it. But you can't tell anybody. Especially not Kyoko."

Yashiro nodded, surprised by the younger man's solemn tone. "Of course, Ren. You can trust me."

Ren nodded and took a deep breath. "My real name is Kuon Hizuri."

"Hizuri…" Yashiro's eyes widened. "But tha-that would mean-"

"Yes, I am Kuu Hizuri's son."

Yashiro sat in a stunned silence as he allowed the information to sink in. Ren had returned to the bathroom to rinse out the hair dye and get dressed. Although I guess that's not his real name… he sighed and rubbed his temples. He could feel a headache coming on.

Ren had told him, without too many details, about meeting Kyoko as a child, and her thinking him to be a fairy, as well as everything that had occurred while in Guam and the events of that afternoon. He couldn't believe Ren had managed to keep such a secret. Especially from Kyoko.

Ren stepped back into the bedroom, now returned to his every day looks. He grabbed his wallet and phone and began to move towards the door.

"Ren."

The younger man stopped as he heard his manager's voice. He turned back slightly.

"How long do you plan to keep all this a secret from her? Kyoko-chan will figure it out eventually."

Ren clenched his fist. "I know that. I'm just not ready to tell her yet. I need more time to figure out how to tell her without making her hate me."

Yashiro's heart ached for his friends, but now all he could do was keep Ren's secret and pray that it didn't wind up hurting them.

When the pair reached the filming location, Ren searched for Kyoko. He saw her seated by herself with a strange look on her face. She seemed to be staring off into space. He noticed Yukia standing nearby watching her as well.

"Is she okay?" he asked Yukia.

Yukia shook his head. "James and I found her kneeling on the sidewalk crying her eyes out." He explained. "We tried to get her to tell us what happened but she keeps saying she doesn't want to talk about it. Maybe she'll talk to you."

Ren looked uncertain before cautiously approaching her. Well, I know what's wrong. After all, I'm the one who caused it. He could feel the guilt welling up inside of him. He moved close enough to her to reach out and touch her hair.

"Kyoko? What's wrong?" he asked her softly.

She jumped at his sudden presence then looked up at him and tears filled her eyes again. "Ren…" she stood and hugged him tightly, "I saw him. I saw Corn." She looked up at him and he gave her a small smile.

"That's good, right?"

Kyoko nodded. "Yes. But he said it's the last time I'll get to see him." She could feel the tears threatening to leak from her eyes again.

She opened her mouth to begin telling Ren the story of her encounter with Corn when a staff member called her for wardrobe and make up.

Kyoko sighed, "I guess I'll have to tell you everything later. Maybe we can talk during dinner. You can come to my room."

Ren nodded, and then watched as the girl he loved walked away. As long as he kept telling himself he was doing this for her sake, he could keep his guilt at bay.

That night, Ren joined Kyoko in her room for dinner. They decided to sit outside on the balcony to eat because it was such a beautiful night. Kyoko was feeling a bit better now that Ren was with her. She turned to look at him from where she sat.

"Thank you," she muttered.

Ren looked up from his food. "For what?"

Kyoko smiled at him. "Thank you for being here. I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to handle his leaving if I didn't have you."

Ren returned her smile. "I'll always be here for you." He said reaching across the small table to touch her hand.

Kyoko felt at peace as she told Ren about meeting Corn in the forest and spending time talking and even about them taking pictures in the photo booth. He laughed with her, and held her tightly when she started to cry again.

They had finished eating and now stood near the balcony railing. Ren had his arms wrapped around her to warm her from the cool breeze. He kissed her head. Slowly, he noticed her head began to fall sideways until she bumped his arm.

Ren laughed when she straightened immediately. "Are you tired, darling?"

Kyoko nodded, too sleepy to blush at what he had called her. He led her back into the room and closed the sliding door for her. "I'll let you go to sleep then. We can have breakfast together in the morning." He kissed her lips, and then began to move towards the door.

She caught his sleeve in her hand. "Wait. Please, can you sleep in here tonight?" her voice was soft, as if she was afraid of being rejected.

Ren looked at her tenderly. "Of course. Let me just get my things. I'll bring all my stuff in here since we leave tomorrow anyway."

Kyoko nodded. "I'll take a bath then. Just knock on the bathroom door when you come back." She handed him her room key. "I'll see you in a little bit."

Ren left the room, but when he entered his own he hung his head. So now I'm being rewarded for hurting you. He slammed his fists down on his bed. "Yashiro was right. I have to tell her." He sighed and began gathering his things. "But not tonight. I'll wait until we get settled back home. Maybe I can tell her everything on our next day off."

He hurriedly packed his suitcase, being sure to hide the hair dye at the bottom. Last he grabbed the picture sheet, he smiled as he looked at the pictures of them, then carefully wrapped it inside of a shirt and closed his suitcase. He made sure to leave out his pajamas and clothes for the next day before going across the hall to Kyoko's room. He knocked softly on the door, then used the keycard to unlock it.

When he entered he saw that the bathroom door was open and the lights were off. He stepped further into the room and smiled. There on the bed, in her pajamas lay Kyoko, peacefully sleeping.

The next day they woke up early and began filming. Aside from their hour break for lunch, they worked straight through the day. It was exhausting but by four o'clock in the afternoon they had finished filming and packed up all of the equipment.

All the cast members boarded the bus and settled in for the long drive home. Five hours later, more than half the occupants of the bus had fallen asleep including Ren and Kyoko, as well as James. The bus pulled into the parking lot at TBM and Yukia shook James to wake him while Yashiro took on the task of waking up his charge and Kyoko.

James sat up suddenly. "Huh? What?"

Yukia laughed at his boyfriend. "We're back at the station. You fell asleep."

James rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Oh, well that was quick."

In the seat behind them, Yashiro carefully woke Kyoko. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Hmm?"

"Sshhh… Ren's still sleeping. I'll bring down your bags, why don't you wake him up?" he said before exiting the bus with the other actors.

Kyoko watched her boyfriend peacefully sleeping. He just always has to look so adorable doesn't he? She glanced around to make sure no one else was around to see them, then leaned over and kissed Ren's lips.

She moved to pull back but was met with a hand on the back of her head pulling her close again, lips remaining locked in the kiss. Finally he released her. Ren opened his eyes and gave her a small smile. "Have we returned?" he asked, ignoring the irritated look on Kyoko's face.

"Yes, we have. What is wrong with you doing something so indecent to a young woman in public?" she scolded him, before standing up to exit the bus.

Ren chuckled. "It seemed to me you were the one attacking a defenseless sleeping man." He saw her face flush as she climbed off of the bus.

A few minutes later, they were both settled into his car for the ride back to their apartment. Kyoko was adamantly staring out the window, refusing to even chance their eyes meeting. Her arms crossed over her chest only proved to Ren that she was still mad at him.

He sighed. "How long are you going to be mad for? I was only teasing you."

Kyoko shook her head. "I'm not mad." She mumbled keeping her face turned away from him.

"Then what's wrong?" he asked.

Kyoko looked at him finally. "I'm tired and hungry. But I'm trying to keep my stomach from growling because otherwise you'll tease me about that too."

Ren clapped a hand to his mouth, trying not to laugh.

Kyoko's gaze turned cold and he was fairly certain she'd let Mio in. "Don't you dare laugh…" she hissed.

Ren swallowed his laughter as he pulled the car into his parking space. "All right, then let's go unload our things and I'll run back out to buy us something to eat."

Kyoko looked uncertain. "I can go with you." She offered.

Ren held up a hand to stop her. "You're tired. You should relax."

Kyoko was too exhausted to argue and conceded defeat. "All right. I'll stay here." She told him.

They took their bags upstairs, and into the apartment. Ren set the suitcases on their bed and then leaned down to kiss Kyoko. "I'll be right back. Try to relax, okay?"

"Well, I can at least unpack our things-"

"No."

Kyoko stared at Ren, surprised by his firm tone. He forced a smile, "I just don't want you to work too hard when we just got home." He patted her head. "You can unpack your things, but I'll take care of my bag when I get home."

Kyoko nodded and gave him a small smile. "All right, then."

She watched as Ren exited the apartment, then turned and stepped back into their bedroom. She unzipped her suitcase and began unpacking her clothes. She sorted everything between clean and dirty, putting away the clean things and moving the dirty clothes into a laundry basket.

Kyoko moved her toiletries back into the bathroom and took out the souvenirs she had purchased for her friends. She was so distracted thinking about their reactions when they received the gifts, that she didn't notice when she began to unpack Ren's bag.

"Uh oh. If he sees this he'll scold me." She hurriedly began to repack his things. Struggling to ensure that the clothes were folded exactly the same as he had had them.

She glanced down when she heard a sound of paper falling. "What's that?" she leaned down to pick up the thin strip of paper. She carefully turned it over in her hands.

What?! She stared down at the paper in her hands. Except it wasn't a paper… it was a photo sheet… with pictures of-

"Corn? B-but I gave these to Corn?" her hands began to shake. "B-but how?"

She jumped up from the floor and began to remove the rest of his belongings. She stopped only when she reached the bottom of the bag and found two bottles of hair dye.

Kyoko felt her legs give out from under her as she collapsed to the ground. B-but that can only mean one thing…

Images of all her interactions with Corn flashed through her mind. Him giving her the stone when she was a little girl and Ren's reaction the first time he saw it. The time in Guam when Corn had looked and sounded so much like her Senpai but she had ignored it because of his excuses. The kiss he had given her before leaving…

She covered her face with her shaking hands as she tried to stop the tears that were determined to fall.

A/N: So sorry for the cliffhanger! I'm afraid I'm addicted to them. I think I do it because I like to see what my readers think of those moments before the outcome is revealed. I'll try and update again tomorrow or FFriday at the latest. My two-year-old daughter is sick so I haven't been able to spend as much time focused on writing. Hopefully she'll be better soon so that she's not miserable, plus then I can give you guys more chapters. :)

Thanks for reading! I love all my readers and reviewers!