Chapter Sixteen

This day was the last day of their filming at the beautiful Karuizawa and tomorrow would be free for the entire cast and crew to enjoy themselves. Ren sat quietly eating his breakfast in his room as Yashiro sat across from him reading the morning paper. After he had finished eating the filling breakfast that Yashiro had piled onto his plate, he decided he needed to walk a bit to get rid of the sleepy, full feeling his meal had brought on. Stairs, yes stairs would be the best way to go. He thought to himself as he peered down the hall and spied the door to the stairwell.

"Fuwa-san... What do you think you're doing?" She asked in a flat tone yet, her mind was like a hive of angry wasps. She was hanging on by a thread as he pulled her away from her main group that had filed into the hotel cafeteria for breakfast before filming began.

He was uncharacteristically gentle with her as he guided her into the room that contained the stairwell and stopped by the vending machines there. He plopped a few yen into the machine and pressed the buttons for his coffee. "I... I wanted to talk to you."

She rolled her eyes and then finally calmed herself. "Well... What about?"

Ren stopped at the top of the stairs, just out of sight and trained his sharp hearing on the words that came from the other male.

"I wanted to apologize for acting like a jerk the other day." He told her, staring at the floor.

She raised an eyebrow. "The other day? Is that it?" She prodded.

"Kyoko... I really think you're ve..." He started and she cut him off.

"What about all of the other times?" She asked.

His head shot up. She had a fire in her eyes that excited him deep down. "Kyoko, I just wanted to tell you I..."

Ren came bounding down the steps and Sho was interrupted again. "Kyoko-chan! Hey, have you had breakfast yet?" He asked cheerily, glancing at Sho with a sly smirk then snaked his arm around her waist in a possessive manner.

Sho felt his heart fall into his stomach.

"Oh my god Ren. If we don't go now we'll miss breakfast!" She exclaimed while looking at her watch.

Sho opened his mouth to protest and was cut off again by Ren.

"Oh, Fuwa-san... Nice to see you again. I would really like to stay and chat but, Kyoko and I have a busy day ahead." He looked down at the girl he wrapped his arm around. "Don't we Kyoko-chan." He winked.

She nodded in a trance-like state. "Um... Yeah."

He then led his little alpha female to the cafeteria and forced himself to share a meal with her, over-stuffing himself. An action he would pay for later but, certainly not regret.

Sho was completely livid at their little display the day before. Who the hell did they think they were? He was certainly going to find out. He followed the two alphas down the little path that forked in opposite directions from a distance. The first path lead to a small stream with a tiny bridge, they weren't there. The second path led to a small lake with a waterfall, they weren't there either. He stood there perplexed. Where could they have possibly gone? His eyes caught sight of a glint in the brush on the other side of the lake. He made his way to the spot and to his horror discovered the source. It was the couple's clothing. The same clothing that Ren and Kyoko had been wearing only a half hour before.

Kuon and Kyoko stepped out from the brush and saw him. Kuon laughed. Kyoko growled.

Sho's attention was immediately trained on the very large, green eyed, brown male wolf and his petite, coal black, female companion with golden eyes. The male seemed relaxed and amused but, the female looked agitated and hostile.

"Come on Kyoko... It's hilarious. You know it is." He kept snickering.

The raven colored fur on her back was bristled. "How could you laugh at a time like this. You know what he's thinking, don't you?"

Ren stood in front of her to block her from going after Sho. "Kyoko, does it really matter what he thinks? It's not like he's going to tell anyone he was stalking us."

She sighed and nodded in agreement. "Fine. I won't kill him." She conceded.

He laughed again and nipped at her hindquarters.

"Hey! What was that for?!" She yelped.

"To distract you. Now... Wanna play chase?" He grinned slyly and somehow it felt eerily familiar to her.

She let a low playful growl out and trained her eyes on the petrified Shotaro Fuwa.

Sho took off in a sprint the second he saw the gold and green of the two large wolves eyes focus on him. His heart leapt into his throat and he thought for certain he was going to end up being their meal. Never once did he look back or, slow down. If he had, he would have noticed that the two had been messing around with him and quit the chase the moment he reached the fork in the path. He ran in a sprint the entire way back to the hotel. His legs were weak and his lungs were burning. His mind was completely clouded by fear. He had left the two wolves back at the lake rolling around on their backs in fits of uncontrolled laughter at what they had just done.

Sho Fuwa would spend the remainder of his stay in Karuizawa either locked in his room or, in the confines of the recording studio, completely forgetting about the pile of clothing he had found near the lake.

No one suspected a thing or, gave the laughing couple a second glance as they emerged from the forest at dusk. They would spend the remainder of their evening shopping for souvenirs, taking pictures and then finally dining at a little café that sat closely to the hotel.

"That was so nice. Too bad we can't stay forever." She pouted.

Ren let a soft smile slip and contemplated on how cute her little pout was. "I'm sure we can find other places like this." He commented as he reached to stroke her hair and quickly caught himself before he gave himself away to the feeling. "We should head back. You have packing to do." He reminded her by holding up the bag of souvenirs he had been carrying for her.

"You're right. Don't you have to pack too?" She asked as they walked through the lobby to the elevator.

"I suppose I do." He commented in a far off tone as he pushed the button to their floor when they entered.

"Thank you for today. It was really fun." She smiled and their floor dinged.

"Yes is was. Wasn't it? We'll have to do it again." He smiled at her.

She giggled. "Not the rat chase though."

"Well, maybe... maybe not." He gave her a mischievous smile as they stopped at her door. "See you tomorrow?"

She nodded shyly and felt a little fluttery feeling rise from the pit of her stomach. She quickly opened her door and nervously told him. "Thank you. See you in the morning." Then quickly shut the door.

Ren chuckled. "So cute..." He whispered and left for his room.