Chapter Twenty-Four

After that night, the night Ren had pinned her, she had realized in her ramblings that 1) she didn't have a passport and 2) she really didn't have control over her life. She decided to take things into her own hands not realizing that Lory Takarada had power of attorney. She sent the paperwork and requests to her mother's law office not really expecting much, but the day everything came back she was stunned. There was the joy of knowing that she had a passport and freedom and the sadness of the realization that her mother had given it without an argument. She was at an impasse with her emotions. It was times like this that she would go to her Nii-sans for comfort but, they were in America at the moment and she would soon be leaving for Guam. She carefully folded up her emancipation papers and tucked them in the pocket of her bag that contained her passport. She would deal with this later. She had more important things to think about, BoxR was going to be on hiatus and she needed to finish her final scenes for the season.

Guam was a paradise. She felt refreshed and like she could stay there forever. The Muse had told her to stay in her room but, what harm could a little trek on the beach do? She reveled in the feeling of the soft sand between her bare toes so much that she had lost track of where she was actually going. Eventually she ended up in a quiet little, unoccupied spot of the beach where she could be alone and fantasize about mermaids and such. That's when he emerged from the water. It was Corn or, was it Ren? He had Corn's beautiful green eyes and his dazzling shiny blond hair, but he had Ren's face and smell. Reino was right... Corn was a boy after all. She was almost speechless. She called Corn's name, but he chose to ignore her and began to walk off. The look he gave her was clear. It said leave me alone and at that moment... she did. She walked away. She needed time to think, time to absorb all of these things that were piling up in her life that she could no longer handle alone. She flipped open her phone and called Reino and began to tell him everything.

Reino sighed. He knew this was bound to happen. Lies were always outed eventually. "Go to the airport. I'll have a ticket waiting for you Imōuto-chan. We're in LA right now. You can stay with us until you clear your head."

"Thank you Nii-san. I love you." She told him in a tear filled voice. It just rolled off her tongue filled with emotion.

"I love you too. I'll see you when we pick you up." It broke his heart that she would never see him beyond that status, but at least he got to say it to her. She didn't need to know the meaning he put behind it.

Kyoko hung up the phone, grabbed her bags and checked out of her hotel room, then took a cab back to the airport and picked up the ticket her brother had purchased for her while she had been checking out of the hotel. In less than an hour she was on her way to Los Angeles to stay with her brothers.

"Ren-chan, have you heard from or, seen Kyoko-chan? I've been trying to reach her since this afternoon. I tried to call her right after I got a hold of you, but her phone goes directly to voicemail." Jelly Woods told him in a worry filled voice.

Ren, trying to play off the fact that he didn't see her earlier, told Jelly that he didn't know that she had come early.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to check her hotel room when we get there. Maybe she fell asleep." She told him, then proceeded to dye his hair.

Ren stood quietly waiting for Jelly in the parking garage of the hotel waiting for her to emerge with Kyoko, only to find the small woman come running to her rental car with a panicked look on her face.

"She checked out!" She cried out.

"What?!" He could feel the fear well up inside of him and the shame of lying to her overcome him.

"They say that she checked out. It was around the same time you got to the salon. They told me she left for the airport hours ago!" Jelly was in tears. "What could have happened? Where did she go?"

"Let's call the Boss and see if he knows anything." Ren had to keep a cool head right now or, he was going to fall apart.

Ren pulled out his phone and dialed. Maybe Lory would know something. She wouldn't just up and leave without telling anyone where she was going. Would she?

The ring of the phone felt like his death knell, then Lory answered in an irritated tone. "Ren..."

"Boss, we can't find Kyoko. Do you know anything about it?" Ren asked, his voice shaking with worry.

Lory sighed deeply. "No... I have no idea what's going on. I just got notice that she's been emancipated this afternoon. She really doesn't have a contract with LME to speak of so there's really no way I can find out what's going on. I called her mother right after I got the information and I was told she had requested the documentation and permission for a passport weeks ago. Has she said anything to you about any of this?"

Ren felt shame wash over him. "Boss... I... I think she recognized me as Kuon."

"What!? How!?" He could hear Lory's shock and anger. "What did you do?"

Ren sat down in Jelly's car and began to spin the tale of how they had met as children, then told him of what had happened that afternoon. "I'm sorry Boss. I didn't think she would run away."

Lory scoffed. "That's right! You didn't think! Now Kami only knows where she's gone and I have to be the one to break it to her brothers! Do you know how overprotective they are?!"

An idea flooded his mind. "Boss... Do you think she went to them?"

"Let me check some things." Lory hung up and left Ren to a very irritated little elf-like stylist.

"You should be ashamed of yourself for leading that poor girl on." Jelly growled in disapproval, tapping her foot on the pavement with her arms crossed, giving him that scolding mother look.

Ren sat with his head in his hands and sighed. "I know."

"Miss, If you need anything just let me know. My name is Linda." The flight attendant told her in a soft voice.

"Thank you. Um... Could I get a bottle of water and a small pillow?" Kyoko asked timidly.

Linda gave her a big smile and pulled a pillow from the overhead. "I'll be back shortly with your water."

Kyoko sighed deeply. These twelve plus hours would be rough. She had more than ample time for her mind to wander to her mother, Ren, Sho and everything that had been happening. At least she would be away from the main problems and lies. At least her Nii-san's wanted her. They would never leave her or, betray her trust. The thoughts of how she was going to deal with this kept running through her mind.

"Here you are Miss." Linda told her as she handed her the cold bottled water.

"Chouko... You can call me Chouko." Kyoko gave her a dazzling smile and took the water from her.

Linda gave a small gasp and a big smile. "Chouko from Company of Wolves?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Um... Yes." Kyoko nodded.

"I love your music. My friend in Hawaii has all of your music downloaded. I'm a really big fan." she quietly gushed.

Kyoko smiled again. "Thank you for listening to my music."

"Well, if you need anything at all... Just let me know." Linda told her, then left to tend to the other first class passenger's.

Lory, Ren and Jelly were beside themselves with worry when Reino called Lory.

"Takarada-san, I will be picking up Kyoko from the airport in a couple of hours. She will be staying with us until further notice to repair the damage your number one bachelor has done with his lies." Reino told him in a flat even tone.

Lory sighed in defeat. "I understand. Let me know when she's ready to return. I'll keep her apartment for her while she's away."

"Thank you for understanding Takarada-san. We appreciate your help." Reino told him then hung up.

Ren's phone rang and he answered on the first ring.

"Boss? Any word yet?" He asked in a frantic voice.

"She'll be staying with her brothers in LA until further notice." Lory had let a bit of anger filter through. "Her brother told me that she couldn't take any more lies. Ren... I think you owe her an explanation."

"Boss... Right now, I don't think she would listen to anything I have to say." He sighed.

Lory shook his head. "Kuon... Right now, she's probably filing you under the same category as Fuwa. If you don't explain things to her and apologize... You will lose her."

"I never had her in the first place Boss. How can you lose someone you don't have?" He asked.

"You're an idiot. You honestly don't deserve her then and you are far more blind to the obvious than she is." Lory huffed. "I've said enough... I refuse to break her confidence. If this is how you actually see things, then you need to leave her alone."