23 August 2024

Koga Sees Something

"Hiro!"

Koga Hiromune turned to see a gaggle of girls coming up behind him. Shooting was done for the day. He figured they were going to ask him out for drinks.

"Ladies," he said, flashing them a megawatt smile. Three of them crowded around him—Pam, Simone, Sophia. The Americans on-set had taken to calling him 'Hiro' instead of Hiromune or Koga, but he didn't mind. They were hot. They could call him whatever they wanted, as far as he was concerned.

"We've got a question," Sophia said. She was looking at him coyly, batting her eyelashes and biting at her lip.

Ohhhhh yes. He was down for whatever these three wanted. "Oh?"

Pam came up beside him, running a long, perfectly manicured finger down his chest.

He got excited. Did they…perhaps…want more than a drink!?

"Do you know if Ren Tsuruga is dating anyone?" Pam asked.

Koga nearly choked. This was a fucking bait-and-switch. Like being pissed on by an adorable puppy.

"Is it true that he's dating an older woman?" asked Simone.

Dammit.

Sophia chimed in next. "What's his type?"

He glared at them, but they kept smiling anyway. Didn't they notice how much he hated the man? Tsuruga, Tsuruga, Tsuruga. Always that asshole Tsuruga—not that he cared if some groupies wanted to suck that guy's dick, but why would he know about the man's love life?

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" he said sullenly.

"Oh but we couldn't, Hiro," Pam said. "It would be so embarrassing."

"So it's ok to ask me?"

"Because you're so much more approachable," Simone answered. "Not like Ren. He's sooooo intimidating—"

"He's too hot to ask—!"

"So fucking hot—!"

He had to roll his eyes as the girls started cooing.

Koga wanted to punch the man's face in. He'd crossed an ocean and learned to act in a whole new language, and still Ren Tsuruga was getting all the attention. It wasn't fair. Koga had been the functional 'cast leader' when they'd first arrived—Director Herbert had all but acknowledged it. But all of that changed when Ren walked—or rather jumped—onto the set. When in the hell was he ever going to get out from under that man's shadow? He made small talk with the girls before sending them on their way. They were all disappointed over the fact that he didn't know anything. He was fuming they all thought he was merely…approachable.

Ugh.

He had to find Kyoko. He was due for another 'Tsuruga-sucks' bitch session with her. The 'gorgeous star' had everyone else fooled. The American dudes had been cowering in front of the man since he'd broken up that fight. Murasame worshiped the ground he walked on. Even Kotonami respected him. But not Kyoko. Kyoko knew he was an asshole.

He walked around the set, looking for that telltale, eye-watering shade of pink, but he couldn't find her.

He spotted Kanae packing up her duffel—surely she'd know. Kyoko was her PA—and, apparently, her best friend. "Kotonami-san, have you seen Kyoko-chan?"

Kanae paused, thinking, before shaking her head. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen her in a while," she said. "I thought she might've been with you in Studio C."

"No," he responded. "She wasn't there when I left."

"I know she went to grab some things at the store earlier today, haven't seen her since. Maybe she went back to the hotel," Kanae said. "Why don't you text her?"

He texted, glad that the entire Japanese cast had exchanged numbers.

He waited. No response. It was a little unusual. Kyoko generally responded fairly quickly.

Oh well, he thought. He'd have to find her some other time.

He decided to take the long way around the studio grounds before heading back to the hotel. He figured he could use the exercise.

He'd just turned down a back corridor when he heard voices.

"Tsuruga-san!" He heard a girlish squeal.

It was unmistakably Kyoko's voice, though she sounded more agitated than usual. He turned the corner and saw the familiar flash of hot pink—

Obscured by him.

Ren Tsuruga had Kyoko trapped against the wall in a kabedon. She was blushing a pink nearly as bright as her overalls, looking into the man's eyes intently. He was looming over her, keeping her from escaping.

She looked like she was about to faint.

Was that asshole bullying her?

That asshole was bullying her! Fighting skills or not, he was gonna beat Tsuruga's ass for this—

"Kyo—"

He only got half of her name out before his jaw dropped. Koga stared, frozen behind a box. He was utterly unable to process the scene before him—

—because Ren Tsuruga's hand was caressing Kyoko's face—

—and now he was tilting up her chin—

—and he was was kissing her—

—and she was kissing him back.

It was utterly absurd.

Was this some kind of joke?

His mind whipped through any number of hypotheses. Did Kyoko somehow get a new role? Was she enlisting her Senpai's help!? Or was it Ren, finally showing his true colors? Maybe the actor had managed to seduce everyone else on set and had now turned his sights to the self-proclaimed 'pure maiden'?

He nearly croaked as that 'pure maiden' ran her hands through Ren Tsuruga's hair, pressing up against the man as if she couldn't help it.

He almost wheezed when Ren's arms surrounded her body and his hands began to rove up and down its curves in what looked like an awfully lascivious manner.

He almost fainted when her hands untucked Ren's shirt to travel against his bare chest.

And when Ren's kisses began to travel down her neck, Koga could hear her breathy moan.

He nearly screamed. She's only seventeen, you bastard!

But the words never left his head, because he could hear them talking to each other.

"I love you," Ren was saying. "God, Kyoko, I love you—I love you—"

And Kyoko answered him, in a tone Koga had never heard before. "I love you too, Kuon," she said breathlessly.

Kuon? Who the fuck was Kuon?

Her head was flung back—it looked like Tsuruga was busy giving her a hickey.

He watched as the most improbable couple in the world clung to each other and made out against the back wall.

What in the actual fuck!? he thought.

Had she been playing him all along?

That was the only logical conclusion. He remembered her reaction—or lack, thereof—to the photo of Tsuruga kissing Kana. How she told Tsuruga to his face that he'd lost her as a fan—and how Tsuruga hadn't seemed particularly offended. He knew Kyoko and Tsuruga occasionally arrived at the set together, went running together—there was even a time she brought him a bento. But then…Kyoko had brought him a bento once, as well. She was a nice girl who got along with everybody. Kotonami and Yashiro frequently did those things with her, too.

He'd never thought twice about it. He hadn't suspected a thing.

He should have known that something was going on right when she'd made that comment about Tsuruga's pajamas.

Koga glared at the lovers.

Kyoko-chan had a lot of explaining to do.