Chapter 7: The Aftermath

Kyoko had woken up early that morning. She couldn't remember when crying had turned into fitful sleeping, but when she awoke the pain cut through her anew. She had to force herself into work mode so as not to begin crying yet again.

I need to get ready and leave before he wakes up. I'm just not ready to have that conversation with him. She told herself as she brushed her teeth and fixed her hair.

She checked the guest room drawers to see if she had any extra clothes that had been left behind in there when she moved to Ren's room. The only thing she found as she dug through the drawers was her old LoveMe uniform.

"I guess I'll have to wear this for now." She couldn't risk going into his bedroom and waking him up after all.

Kyoko got dressed, and stored her pajamas in the guest room dresser before grabbing her bag and leaving. She paused and leaned against the outside of their front door.

I'm sorry, Corn. I'm just not ready to face you.

After spending a couple of hours at a restaurant, eating breakfast and burning time, she headed to TBM. She received a few strange looks due to her outfit but most people had gotten used to it from the years before.

It wasn't until she reached the set that someone noticed something was wrong.

"What happened, Kyoko-chan?" Yukia asked as he sat down in the chair next to her. She was already in costume and make up but her character had yet to take control. It was difficult to get into the character of a girl who was happily dating the man she loved when she didn't even know what was going on in her own love life.

She sighed, "Ren and I had a fight."

He nodded understandingly. "Well, that's to be expected of a couple. Especially when you're living together."

Kyoko looked at him and he saw tears in her eyes. "I know it's a huge bother and you can say no if it's not all right but," she paused searching for the right words. "would it be possible for me to stay with you and James-san for a few days?"

Yukia stared at her. Just how bad had this fight been? Wasn't this something that could be settled after one night of Ren sleeping on the couch?

Kyoko looked down at her lap. "I-I mean I'm sure you need to ask James-san first-"

"It's fine. Of course, you can stay with us."

She stared at him hopefully. "Really?" she bowed her head to him. "Thank you so very much!"

Yukia nodded. "It's nothing. We are happy to have you."

At that moment the director called them onto the set to begin filming their first scenes of the day.

"Now for this episode we need to show the viewers just how completely happy the two of you are before everything gets torn apart in the two-part finale. Understand?" the director told them.

They both nodded in agreement but Yukia was concerned because he had never seen Kyoko look this depressed and empty.

Will you really be able to act Kimi-chan when you're feeling this way? He wondered as they got into place.

But as soon as the director had called action, a light crossed Kyoko's face.

Be happy. Be happy. She chanted to herself. You can fake being happy in love.

She smiled tenderly at Yukia.

I guess she can.

When their filming finished at two, Kyoko approached Yukia and James. She bowed to them.

"Thank you both again for allowing me to stay with you for a few days. If it's convenient for you, I'll be going home after this to collect my things, and then I could come to your apartment to leave them there. If not I could leave my things in the LoveMe section until you are able to head home."

Yukia looked at James. "Do we have anything right now?"

James shook his head. "You're free until five, then you have a commercial shoot until nine." Yukia had told him about Kyoko's situation during an earlier break and he had readily agreed to her temporarily staying with them.

Yukia smiled at Kyoko. "All right, then we'd be happy to give you a ride home to get your things and then take you back to our place so you can get settled."

Kyoko nodded, "Thank you. I'll go get my bag." She was grateful to be able to go get her things now, because she knew Ren wouldn't be there.

The whole day Ren was out of it. Yashiro had to keep reminding him to not make scary depressed faces when in front of people. Finally, in the early evening Yashiro noticed that Ren was continually checking the time on his phone.

"You can go home." He told the actor.

Ren looked at him confusedly. "But I still have another job."

Yashiro shook his head. "No, I cancelled it. Go home and work things out with Kyoko-chan. I know that's why you can't focus."

Ren gave his manager a grateful look. "Thank you, Yashiro. Did you want me to give you a ride home?"

The older man shook his head again. "That's all right, Ren. Don't worry about it."

Ren gathered his things quickly. "Thank you." He said as he left the studio they had been filming at. He sped home, trying the whole way to figure out what he would tell Kyoko. He just knew he wanted to hold her. Not having her with him the night before had hurt him so much.

He parked in his parking space and jumped out of his car, rushing to the elevator and anxiously waiting for it to arrive at his floor.

When he reached their apartment he unlocked the door and stepped inside. Even from the entry he could tell something was wrong. Their was no smell of cooking food- not that he expected her to be cooking him dinner, but it was a smell he had grown accustomed to. He stepped into the living room and saw no sign of Kyoko. No sound of movement from within the apartment.

He moved toward the guest room. Maybe she's hiding in here again? He knocked lightly on the door before opening it. The room was empty. "Dammit."

He moved on to their bedroom. Maybe she's sleeping in our room. He opened the door and stepped inside. A once-over of the room told him she wasn't there, but it also told him she had been there.

The first thing he noticed was that the few decorative items she normally kept on her nightstand were missing, including Princess Rosa. He moved on to check the closet. Her suitcase and clothes were gone. He dug through the dresser drawers and found them all empty.

Ren was having trouble breathing. Why did she take all of her stuff. Where did she go? He hurried to the bathroom. His last hope. After all, he hadn't checked the drawers in the guest room. Maybe she had just moved all her stuff in there.

But when he entered the bathroom his fears were confirmed. She had taken her toothbrush and other toiletries. Suddenly, his head hurt. He placed a hand to his temple and pressed.

Slowly, Ren made his way to the kitchen. The initial shock was fading to numbness. The woman he loved had left him. He didn't know how long she'd be gone or what this all meant but she was gone. He had thought that was the worst of it , but when he walked into the kitchen he felt his heart stop.

There on the counter was a card key. He picked it up. It was her key for the apartment. Does this mean she's not coming back? He felt panic rising in his chest. Then he noticed another object on the counter. It was a tiny fabric purse.

He opened it carefully and poured the contents into his hand. In his palm lay a blue-purple stone. A stone that he knew all too well. He gripped it tightly.

His feet began to carry him into the living room where he collapsed onto the couch still clutching the stone. His throat felt thick with emotion as he tried to hold back the tears he could feel flooding his eyes. He stared down at the stone that had so often taken away his sad feelings.

"You can't leave me. I can't do this without you. Please." As the final words left his lips tears began to fall. Ren couldn't remember the last time he had allowed himself to cry with such abandon. But he had lost all will to hold back.

Right now he had lost the most important person in his entire world, and he didn't know if he could ever get her back.

Back across town, in a modest two bedroom apartment, Kyoko readied herself for a shower. Yukia had shown her to the guest room earlier so she could unpack and she had done her best to distract herself since then. Now it was nearly ten o'clock, and she hoped she'd be able to shower and fall asleep. She just needed to stop thinking for a while.

There was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Kyoko-chan? Can I come in to talk?" it was Yukia. She opened the door, welcoming him inside. They sat together on the floor.

"I hope the room is comfortable enough for you." He told her.

She smiled. "It's very nice. Thank you."

Yukia nodded, then rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, Kyoko-chan?"

"Yes?"

He sighed, and she could see he was nervous. "Since you'll be staying here, I'd like to know what happened. I don't need all the details, but I think I deserve to know what was so bad that it required you to move out of Tsuruga-san's apartment."

Kyoko was surprised. For some reason it had never occurred to her that he might ask. She took a deep breath, he does have a right to know.

"I found out he's been hiding something from me. A secret about his past."

Yukia nodded, listening intently.

"He's Corn." She choked out. Now she was fighting back tears. "There's no such thing as fairies. He's been lying to me this whole time. And the worst part is that he's the only one I want to talk to. Because it used to be that Corn could always make me feel better, and then it was Ren who could do that." She hiccupped as tears began to streak her face. "And now I've lost both of them. They both abandoned me."

Yukia reached out and wiped the tears from her face. "I'm sorry, Kyoko-chan. I know how important Corn was to you."

She took a breath to try and calm herself. "I hoped that if I got away for a few days, I could think and try to understand everything. Please, promise me you won't tell him I'm here. I'm just not ready to see him."

Yukia took her hand and gently squeezed it. "Kyoko-chan, you won't be able to avoid him for long I'm afraid. We film with him starting tomorrow for the finale."

Kyoko's eyes widened. She had completely forgotten that they would still have to act together. "T-tomorrow?" he heard her voice crack and the tears began to flow again this time without any attempt to stop them.

He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly as she sobbed against his shoulder. He rubbed her back, uncertain of any other way to comfort her. After several minutes, the sobs became soft gasps for air and then faded completely as her breathing evened out.

"Kyoko-chan?" he asked softly.

When there was no response he shifted her in his arms and saw that she had fallen asleep. He carefully lifted her and laid her in the guest bed before tucking her in. He watched her sadly, he felt so helpless.

Later that night as he and James lay in bed, Yukia told him the things Kyoko had said. James sighed as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Do you think we should do something?" he asked.

Yukia reached out and grasped James' hand in his own. "I think so. But I'm not sure what."

"Well, maybe for now we just have to watch them tomorrow and see what happens?" James suggested.

Yukia nodded. "You're probably right." He leaned over and gave his boyfriend a quick kiss.

James chuckled, "I usually am."

Both men fell asleep worrying about their friends' situation. And hoping that Ren wasn't taking this any worse than Kyoko was.

A/N: Hello everyone! And Yay! No cliffhanger this time. Sigh. This was a difficult chapter to write emotionally, same with chapter 6. I hope you all enjoyed it. Thank you for reading! And I appreciate any and all reviews!