Fuwa Sho is hiding behind a large electrical box outside Kyoko's house, waiting for Reino to come out. He is wearing dark sunglasses and a flat cap. A long jacket completes his ensemble and only the most observant would be able to tell his identity. He had originally expected Reino would ring the bell, touch Kyoko when she opens the door, do some voodoo, and get the information.
'Only if she shuts the door quicker than that would the plan fall apart' he had thought to himself. But when he sees Kyoko open the door dressed up in a weird all-black ensemble and actually invite that fellow in, he is shocked.
'What is going on?' he wonders. 'Did Reino cast some spell or something? Did he cast a spell on my eyes so I am seeing things? I can't put it past that little vampire.'
'No No No. That is impossible. Maybe she was dressed like that as practice for some acting part. That must be it,' he convinces himself. But why did she invite Reino in? The Kyoko that Fuwa knew would never do that. Perhaps that was something Reino did or maybe she was just being polite.
Fuwa's mind is going round in circles and without realizing it he begins pacing up and down behind the electrical box talking to himself, surprising passers-by.
When he sees them staring at him, he pulls himself together, "At this rate, I will be discovered.'
Eventually, he sees someone else ring the bell. Again the door opens and Reino comes out and behind him, Kyoko looks like she is disappointed.
"What the hell?" Fuwa almost blurts out but stops himself in time.
'Why is she behaving like she is in love with Reino or something? She was probably full of openings and let Reino cast a spell on her or something. If you are that weak, I don't really care what's been bothering you'
So thinking, Fuwa starts to walk away annoyed when out of the corner of his eye he sees something else. The second man who had rung the bell is also being invited inside by Kyoko.
"Who the hell is that?" This time he does say it out loudly.
"Someone she doesn't know obviously," Reino answers from behind him.
"YOU!" rages Fuwa yanking Reino by his collar. "What did you do to her?"
"Nothing." says Reino calmly.
"Then why was she acting...like that?" Fuwa asks letting go of Reino and points towards Kyoko's house.
"Hell if I know," Reino replies with equanimity and starts walking. "She was super flirtatious," he adds, enjoying the look of consternation that passes on Fuwa's face.
But Fuwa just says, "What did you find out?" with deadly calm.
"She got married to Tsuruga, lost a pregnancy for which I guess that guy blamed her and left her for god knows where."
Reino keeps walking but Fuwa stops. His fists are clenched.
"Are you sure?" he asks still in the same deadly calm manner.
"Yes. She didn't tell me of course. I touched her special stone and I knew all there was to know."
"That jerk!" Fuwa storms with barely controlled anger. "How dare he!?"
"What do you care? You don't love her. Or if you did, you should be happy. This is your chance." says Reino coolly.
"It's not and I don't," says Fuwa suppressing his emotions that were threatening to boil over.
"Well I fulfilled my end of the bargain," Reino says watching Fuwa amused. "Now it is your turn."
Fuwa starts walking silently thinking. His mind is awhirl. Kyoko married. He is finding it hard to wrap his head around that. But a lot of little pieces start falling into place - a look here, a gesture there. The clues were there to put together especially for someone who knew Kyoko as well as he did. But losing a baby. Fuwa had no frame of reference to understand what that would feel like. But he knew Kyoko, and if Ren left her because he blamed her...
'She would definitely blame herself too.,' he thinks. 'She has always been that sort of person.'
Fuwa feels a tightness in his chest. He feels frustrated that he doesn't know how to help Kyoko. Reino turns around sensing something in Fuwa.
"Can you keep your intense feelings to yourself? I can feel it all the way over here."
"I am not feeling intense feelings towards Kyoko," says Fuwa bristling.
"I didn't say 'towards Kyoko' "
Fuwa makes a face.
"Actually," continues Reino. "You should make a song about those intense feelings towards Kyoko. She won't talk to you. But releasing a song would send your message to her. And a song with intense feelings towards a woman is sure to be a hit."
"Urusai." says Fuwa but the cat is out of the bag. He can already hear the music in his head as he is walking. The lyrics start pouring into the music. He is even able to hear Reino singing the refrain. He holds his head like it is about to burst. They have to come out. The song has to come out or he would go mad.
He suddenly pulls Reino into the next building.
"Paper and pen!" he yells to the terrified receptionist who hands it over. He starts writing the music down furiously. As he is writing Reino calmly asks the receptionist if he can make a phone call.
Kyoko is still sitting on her sofa wondering about Petor.
'I hope he is alright. Such a sweet boy with a lack of belief in true love. I was like that once. So many people are living their lives without love because of the fear of being betrayed. Fear of it not being real. Shin, Petor, even Ren. He used to make an excuse that he had no right to deserve happiness.
But so what if he didn't have the right.' she thinks indignantly. 'He had to be happy for my sake.
I too have people who I still love and who love me and care for me. Moko-san, Shin, Yashiro-san, my in-laws, my mother, even the president. And all my fans. I have to find a way to be happy for their sake.
A sudden movement in front of her startles her. Shin, as usual, in his quiet and unobtrusive way has come in and is now sitting in front of Kyoko. She smiles at him.
"Ouch!" he says shielding his eyes. "What a brilliant smile! Can you please stop?"
Kyoko laughs, "I used to think the same about Ren-san's smile."
Shin's ears perk up. "Ren-san?" he asks.
A tall man with blonde hair is cleaning the counter at a restaurant.
"I said no onions.," says a man who slams a tray with burger and fries on the counter right next to the cleaning cloth.
"Sorry," says the blonde man, puts the cloth to the side and takes the tray inside where a woman is cleaning some plates.
"Lizzie, the man said no onions."
The woman who is obviously pregnant stops the cleaning and sighs, "Sorry," she says without looking up.
"Why don't you take a break and I will handle the rest." the man says.
"I know I need a break. You know I need a break. The manager knows I need a break. The only person who doesn't realize I need a break is Uncle Sam. I swear if I meet one of those old white men who pass for politicians these days, I have a good mind to ask whether they think babies carry themselves around. Or better yet strap a six-pound bag to their waist and make them work eight-hour standing shifts for $7.25 an hour wages."
The man walks over and hands her the tray.
"You want me to wash this before I rest?" she asks.
"No." he replies, "Eat it."
She stares and then sighs, "Don't mind if I do."
The man preps another burger and fries as she is eating. With her mouth slightly full Lizzie asks, "Hey you thought about what I said about my sister?"
The man doesn't respond.
"You should settle down one of these days. A handsome guy like you, with a steady job. Responsible and reliable. Girls must have been falling over themselves for you back home huh?"
"I didn't notice," he replies neutrally, continues working.
Lizzie tries again, "Too bad I'm already hitched." she laughs nervously and then places a protective hand on her bump, "You would have made a great father Rain."
The man stops and turns around but he can only see the door to the break room closing shut.
A/N : Hi everyone, I need your help to correct some song lyrics for Fuwa's songs that I wrote. It is in Japanese, written in Romanji. If someone could help me edit it for grammar and spelling, I would really appreciate it. Please PM me if you can.
And thanks for continuing to read my story.