Chapter Twenty-Eight
It was the second week of August and everything had been going her way. No further attempted contacts of Sho Fuwa, but Kuon had started calling Kuu and Julie on a weekly basis. Like clockwork he would call every Wednesday and Sunday to speak to them. The couple of days that he had spent with his father, he steeled the courage in his veins and left her a gift and a note of apology. He told her in the note that there were important things that he had to tell her about himself, but he wasn't quite ready yet and he hoped that she understood. The week after, he had received an email from her telling him that she accepted the apology and would wait until he was ready. After that, they would email each other everyday and he tried to make it a point to call her every night before she slept. It wasn't really for her, he needed to hear her voice again.
What Lory and Yashiro would probably consider small progresses were kept to himself. He didn't want them finding her and he didn't need them interfering. They would only make things more complicated. He wanted to do this on his own. No press announcements, no celebrations of love and no squealing fan-girl managers. Just him and Kyoko.
Rumors of Ren having an overseas girlfriend spread like wildfire the day he returned from New York and his new behavior and lovestruck visage didn't help much. Talk show hosts and tabloids were constantly droning on and on about it.
"Is there something you aren't telling me Ren?" Yashiro asked with a bit of irritation in his tone.
Ren sighed. "No Yashiro."
"You've been behaving differently since July. Your New York trip was over a month ago and you still have that look on you." Yashiro informed him.
Ren's brow furrowed. "What look would that be?" He said in a flat tone.
"The same look you used to get with Kyoko-chan." Yashiro gasped. "Did you find Kyoko-chan?"
"No Yashiro, I did not." You don't need to know I found Kyoko yet. He added mentally and thought about how long it would be until he actually got to see her again without her Ice Queen persona. He frowned at the thought. I was going to be another month.
Yashiro dropped his gaze and felt a little guilty for mentioning her. "Sorry... I."
"It's alright." Ren told him as they made their way to his next interview.
In a little café, in downtown Los Angeles, Kuu Hizuri sat with his lovely wife Julie discussing family matters. Important promises that had been made long ago to his best friend.
"Kuu when are we going to tell her about the agreement between you and Kazu?" Julie sounded a bit worried about the subject.
"We aren't. I'm not holding her to something like that. I want her to marry him out of love not duty." Kuu told her.
Julie let out a sigh of relief and her visage softened. "Thank you Kuu. I was a little worried that the pack would push the issue."
"They won't. It's already been discussed. As long as she doesn't choose a human, everything is fine. After her experience with that Fuwa boy, I really don't see that as a problem and Kuon has been making progress with her." He informed his lovely wife.
Julie looked up at him in confusion.
"Were you aware they've been emailing each other for about a month now?" Kuu smirked.
Julie bounced happily in her seat and clapped excitedly. "Kuu how did you do it?"
He took her hand and kissed her wedding band. "I just told him about his mother."
She playfully slapped him and pouted. "Oh Kuu. I wasn't that difficult."
Kuu snorted. Yes, you were.
"So?" The elaborately dressed male questioned the efficient manager as they sat in what could only be described as an Arabic Harem, discussing the manager's charge.
Yashiro shook his head. "Nothing. I can't get a word out of him about why he has that look."
Lory sighed dramatically as he leaned back on the mountain brightly colored cushions behind him. "Well... I guess, just keep an eye on him. He's bound to slip up at some point and mention something."
Yashiro agreed. "Do you think he's found Kyoko-chan?"
"Hard to say, but if I had to guess... I would say yes. Probably in New York." Lory surmised. "Hmm, how do you feel about going to London with him this time?"
"London?" Yashiro asked.
Lory nodded. "The next Fashion Week he has to attend for R-Mandy is in a couple of weeks."
A smile that would rival a certain cat from a certain children's story crept across Yashiro's face. "I would love to sir."
"Good. Make sure you keep a close eye on him." Lory reminded him.
{The petite blonde lay curled tightly in a ball, shivering in fear in the quiet sterility of the hospital room that she had been admitted to. She flinched at the sound of the soft knock on her door before the two men had entered the room, one in his forties the other in his mid-twenties.
"Miss Marrs...You have visitors." The young nurse informed her.
She nodded as her green gaze fell upon them. Examining them closely for anything out of what she would consider ordinary. She deemed that it would be safe with them.
The older gentleman cleared his throat and sat next to her bed. "Miss Marrs?"
She nodded.
"I'm Detective Fallon and this is Detective Hale." He introduced. "I would like to hear about what happened Tuesday night at the park."
Her eyes filled with fear and searched around the room for something. When she felt it was safe to speak, she nodded shakily.
"May we call you Melanie?" He asked softly.
She nodded again.
"Alright Melanie... Why don't you start with the very first things you can remember from that night." He told her in a comforting voice. "Try to remember everything." He told her then took out his recorder and notepad, then prepared to hear her story."}
"Cut... Thank you Chouko, Dan, Jason. Great take. Now let's do that one again and get the angles of Melanie searching the room." Director Mills instructed and so went Kyoko's first day of filming in Hollywood. Other than a few NG's from a bit of giggling from Jason and Kyoko trying to get comfortable in the hard hospital bed, she and her acting partners had a relatively perfect day. Hopefully the entire filming would be the same, if this was any indication.
Yashiro sat quietly contemplating on how he was going to break the news to Ren about him accompanying him to London the next week. He had made the trips to the different locales with him before but, not since Kyoko disappeared.
"Alright, spit it out. I already know Boss wants you to go with me to London. When can I expect you to join me?" Ren said dryly.
Yashiro's eyes shot to him. "Sorry Ren."
Ren sighed. "He wants you to spy on me, doesn't he?"
Yashiro sputtered. "No... Well, he just wants me to make sure that everything goes smoothly."
Ren shook his head. "You aren't going to find anything you two can use or, misconstrue as a love life." At least he wouldn't be showing up the day of. That will give me time with Kyoko and give Ms. Woods time to make the switch back at least.
"I am not going for that purpose, if that's what you think." Yashiro told him with feigned indignance.
"Of course." Ren said sarcastically. "Yashiro, you should attend the acting school if you want to be more believable." He commented.
{Scene: An ambulance comes to a screeching halt in the covered area of a hospital emergency room. The paramedics quickly exit and remove a girl in her late teens to twenties and a small boy about the age of ten. The girl is screaming and thrashing about, trying to remove her restraints. The small boy is unconscious with cuts and burns covering his small body.
The two gurneys are quickly rolled into a private room and the girl is sedated. The interns and nurses begin to cut off the clothing of the young boy and the doctors assess the physical condition of the girl as she mumbles incoherently of fire demons and monsters.
"What happened to them?" The young intern asked as he dressed the boy's wounds.
The paramedic in charge of the two shook his head. "Not sure. There was a big fire on Main at the old gazebo in the park. It looked like there was a gathering of some sort and a fire broke out. These two were the only ones to survive."
"It's a shame that these kids should have to go through something like that." The intern commented with pity. "We'll probably need to call in a psychologist to help them deal with the trauma when they wake up."
"Don't forget to note that on their charts." The charge nurse reminded.
"Thank you Ms. Mills." The intern told her as he scribbled it down. "I want to keep her sedated until morning. She probably needs the rest and monitor the boy's vitals. Those burns are pretty bad. I'll let Doctor Hynde know."}
"Cut! Great! Got it in three takes." The director called. The problem they had been having was the trek into the building and down the short corridor to the room. One of the gurneys had kept getting caught up in the doorway. "Alright, I will see everyone back tomorrow. Don't forget, we'll be filming final hospital scenes, so be prepared." He reminded.
They would finish up the scenes for the hospital and police interviews in the room, then move on to the rest of the story after Kyoko got back from London. "Good job Chouko, Billy. Good job everyone."
Kyoko jumped down off the hospital bed and made her way to Mark. "Do we have anything else for today?" She asked as they walked back to the dressing rooms.
"You have an interview with Rose White of Teen Beat Magazine then dinner at El Gato with Kuu and Julie right after." He reminded her.
"Is the interview for Lily or, me?" She asked.
"It's for your latest single and to do a little movie promoting." He told her as he sat on the sofa in her dressing room and she disappeared into her private bathroom to shower off the makeup, fake blood and dirt from the last scene.
"Mark." She called through the bathroom door. "Could you pull out my outfit for the interview and set it in the dressing area?"
"No problem." He answered then began picking through the clothes that were hanging on the rack when her phone rang. Mark chuckled when he saw the name that flashed across the screen. "Who on Earth is Corn?"