Chapter 13: Making Apologies and Adjustments

The next morning when Ren woke up, he panicked. He was alone in his bed, and there was no sign of Kyoko. Don't tell me I dreamed all of that. He thought as he hurried out of bed and walked down the hall.

His search quickly showed that the bathroom was unoccupied as well as the living room. But when he reached the living room the smell of food filled his senses. He stepped into the doorway of the kitchen and smiled as he watched Kyoko move about quickly.

"Are you just going to stand in the doorway?" she called without turning around.

"How did you-"

Kyoko glanced back at him, a playful gleam in her eye. "I could feel you watching me." She moved over to a cabinet and brought down a coffee mug. "You can go get ready. Breakfast will be done in about ten minutes." She told him.

Ren nodded, but he didn't leave the kitchen. Instead he took a few long steps towards her until he was close enough to wrap his arms around her.

"Ren, I'm trying to cook." She scolded him. But he could see that her face had turned red and could hear the lack of seriousness in her tone.

He sighed, resting his head on her shoulder. "You scared me. I woke up and you weren't there." He paused, "I thought I had dreamed it all."

Kyoko looked at him and smiled before giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "Don't worry. I'm right here."

They stared into each other's eyes for several moments, before Ren broke the silence. He sniffed the air. "Is something burning?" he asked.

Kyoko's face turned bright red as she hurried back to the cooking. "Go get ready!" she called to him.

Ren stepped out of the kitchen, chuckling to himself. At least this means today's filming should go better.

After breakfast, both Ren and Kyoko climbed into his car and drove to pick up Yashiro. When they reached his residence the manager stood dumbstruck outside of the car. "K- Kyoko-chan!" he exclaimed happily.

Kyoko bowed to him after stepping out of the car. "Good morning, Yashiro-san. I'm sorry if mine and Ren's personal issues got in the way of your work."

Yashiro shook his head. "No, of course not, Kyoko-chan. Don't worry about me."

Kyoko smiled at him. "I'll be climbing in the back then so you can have the front seat." She told him.

Yashiro waved his hands around in objection. "No, Kyoko-chan, you should ride in front. Besides," he leaned down to whisper to her. "I'm sure Ren would rather have you next to him than me."

His words froze Kyoko long enough for him to climb in the backseat. It wasn't until Ren called her name that she realized what had happened and gave in to sitting in the front. That man is so tricky. I think I underestimated him. She found herself thinking as they drove to the studio.

"I apologize for delaying the filming yesterday." Kyoko told the director as she bowed before him.

"Do you feel ready for it today?" he asked.

Kyoko nodded. "Yes, Director-san. I think we'll have no problem accomplishing it today."

The director was smiling as he glanced behind Kyoko to where Ren was watching. I thought something was off about those two. Maybe they had a fight or something. He brushed it off. "As long as we can finish the assigned filming today, we should still be able to maintain our schedule."

"Of course, Director-san!" she exclaimed happily before hurrying off. Just one more thing I need to take care of before we start. She made her way down the hall, passing her dressing room and the make up room. She raised a fist and knocked on the door of her co-star's dressing room.

The door opened a moment later to reveal James. "Good morning, Kyoko-chan. Please come in." he greeted her, stepping aside to allow her entry.

She stepped into the room and saw Yukia sitting on a chair with a script in his lap. He smiled at her as she entered.

"Kyoko-chan, it's good to see you. How are you doing?" he asked as he stood up.

Kyoko smiled, "It's good to see you too. I'm doing much better today." She suddenly bowed to him. "I must apologize for my behavior yesterday. I'm sorry to have worried you by leaving so suddenly. I even forgot to leave a note to tell you where I had gone. I'm a terrible houseguest." She sighed as she finished her long-winded apology.

Yukia chuckled, "Kyoko-chan, thank you for your apology but it's okay. I wasn't upset with you." She looked up at him and saw that his eyes were sparkling as he and James watched her.

"We are just glad to hear that things are better between you and Tsuruga-san." James said.

Kyoko blushed. "Thank you. I will try not to trouble you two again."

"Well, you can trouble us a little." Yukia told her, "Why don't you and Tsuruga-san come over for dinner sometime next week?"

Kyoko nodded excitedly. "That would be wonderful! And we would be happy to return the invitation as well. I'd love the opportunity to properly thank you both with a meal."

"That sounds great," Yukia replied. He glanced at a clock on the wall nearby. "Aren't you supposed to be in make-up right now?" he asked, looking concerned.

Kyoko's eyes widened as she realized the time. "Oh no! I'm late." She hurried out the door calling a hasty good bye behind her.

"It's good to see her back to her usual self." James said, as he watched the door she had just run through.

Yukia nodded, "I hope things will be calm for her for a while." He returned to his seat and continued looking over the script in his hands.

Some time later, Kyoko and Ren were back on set and in character as they stood in what appeared to be an empty school courtyard.

"So, your boyfriend isn't here. Did you dump him yet?" Satoshi asked, as he moved closers to Kimi. He rested his arm on the wall above her.

Kimi glared up at him. "I don't see why that is any of your concern. Also you aren't allowed on school grounds. Do I need to call security to escort you out again?" she threatened, trying to hide the fact that her knees were shaking.

Satoshi laughed at her as he reached out to touch a strand of her hair. "To do that you'd have to get away from me first, now wouldn't you?"

Kimi slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me." She hissed.

Satoshi's eyes darkened and he grabbed ahold of Kimi's arm causing her to drop her phone. He pulled her to him roughly encasing her in his arms. With one hand he grabbed her chin and forced her head towards him before pressing his mouth against hers.

The kiss lasted several seconds with Kimi struggling to free herself from his grasp. Finally, she managed to shove him away.

"How dare you!" she spat. Kimi raised a hand to slap him but he caught it in mid-air.

"Why don't you run along to your little boyfriend now? Unless you want me to kiss you again that badly." His tone was teasing but Kimi saw the darkness in his eyes and could feel her hair stand on end.

Satoshi released his grip and turned to leave. As soon as he was out of sight, Kimi lost the ability to stand. Her knees went weak beneath her and she collapsed to the ground, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Cut!" the director called loudly, startling some of the people watching. "That was beautiful! Perfection!"

Ren had returned to Kyoko's side and extended a hand to help her up.

"Thank you." She told him, her cheeks slightly pink. She was just now realizing how many people had been standing around to watch their scene. I guess that is a pretty intense scene.

She could see some people whispering nearby but couldn't hear their words. I wonder if my acting wasn't good enough compared to Ren. Maybe it was obvious how inexperienced I am compared to him. She felt doubtful of herself as the adrenaline from the scene wore off.

"You did great. Don't worry." Ren whispered into her ear.

She jumped at his sudden speech and felt her blush deepen. "Thank you. So did you." She said softly, looking anywhere but his eyes.

Ren patted her on the head before stepping away to get ready for the next scene. Kyoko touched her hands to the side of her warm face before smiling.

After a few more scenes, Kyoko remembered what she and Yukia had discussed. She turned to Ren where they waited by the refreshment table.

"I forgot to tell you, Yukia-kun and James-san invited us to come over next week for dinner." She told him, "They asked me to check with you about what day works best."

Ren looked thoughtful, "Maybe Tuesday? That's the last day of filming for you two and I have a pretty light work load that day also."

Kyoko nodded, "That'll be perfect!" she exclaimed. "I'd better go tell them." She said before hurrying off in their direction.

Ren watched her with a smile on his face. Finally, things are back to normal again.

That night after they had finished filming, Ren and Kyoko drove back to their apartment in a peaceful silence. They were both enveloped in their own thoughts. Ren was feeling content. He had the woman he loved back by his side and he didn't plan to ever let her leave him again. Kyoko likewise felt more at ease now that she and Ren had figured things out but she was still conflicted. She found it was more difficult than she had expected to accept the fact that Ren and Corn were the same person.

When they got home, Kyoko changed out of her work clothes before heading to the kitchen to prepare a small snack to have with some tea. As she put together some sandwiches, her mind wandered.

I wonder what kind of advice Corn would tell me in this kind of situation… she found herself thinking. She paused in the middle of sandwich making. What am I thinking? He is Corn! They aren't two separate people anymore. She shook her head as she put the sandwiches onto a plate. Not that they ever were two people.

She looked up to begin setting out tea cups and saw Ren watching her from the other side of the counter. He had an amused look on his face that turned into laughter after hearing Kyoko cry out in surprise.

"You looked like you were scolding those sandwiches pretty harshly." He told her teasingly.

Kyoko turned away to hide her blush. "Don't tease me like that, Corn!" she scolded. The next second she clapped her hands over her mouth. She glanced at Ren to see his reaction. "I'm sorry, Ren." She began immediately. "It just slipped out."

Ren moved over to her when he saw how much she was panicking. He leaned down to look at her face. "Kyoko, it's okay." He told her. He reached out and stroked her cheek.

Kyoko met his eyes and her own eyes widened. "You- your eyes. They are green!" she exclaimed. And indeed, his usually brown eyes were currently the brilliant green that naturally resided beneath his colored contacts.

He chuckled but didn't move away from her. "Yes, I figured if I didn't need to wear the contacts all the time, I could take them off now." He paused, "That is, if you don't mind." The last thing he wanted was to cause Kyoko more distress by reminding her of someone she didn't want to be reminded of.

She shook her head. "I don't mind. I've always loved your green eyes." She blushed when she realized what she'd said. "I didn't mean that I don't like your eyes when they're brown though." She quickly stated trying to backtrack in case she had offended him.

He smiled at her though and Kyoko felt her knees go weak. "And I don't mind if you call me 'Corn'. You can call me whatever makes you happy, whether it be Ren, Corn, or Kuon."

Kyoko could feel her eyes filling with tears as she threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Corn." She murmured against his chest. "I really am so glad to have you back with me."

Ren placed a kiss on the top of her head. "It's good to be back with you too."

A/N: Thank you for your patience! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I still have a few more chapters planned because there's more for this story:) so don't worry. Hehe! See you again soon!