Chapter 2

Weeks passed and Ren had made occasions to see his kouhai "by chance" in the corridors of the LME. Assisted by his manager who had asked for the young actress's schedule, he had multiplied the coincidences. For her part, Kyoko still troubled in his presence, had tried in vain to flee from him and to forget what she felt for her sempai.

Today she had a meeting with Lory, the extravagant boss of the LME, the latter was wearing a cowboy costume today and his office smelled horses. She had been given a cowboy hat upon her arrival and had been invited to join her boss around the campfire, fortunately equipped with a fake flame. There was a knock at the door and Ren entered the room. Immediately the young girl tensed up, was Lory going to betray his promise and reveal her feelings to her sempai. Ren sat down around the fake fire on a cowskin and Lory then spoke.

- The movie Tragic Maker is coming out in a week, I need you to endorse the roles of Cain and Setsuka Heel for the premiere.

Ren and Kyoko had indeed played the roles of Cain Heel, a British actor of Japanese origin and Setsuka his little gothic sister. It was under the cover of Cain that Ren had worked on the Tragic Maker project. That was under the cover of Cain that he had terrorized the entire filming team. Kyoko, in the role of Setsuka, had been able to take care of her sempai by making sure above all that he ate well. The problem was that Lory, who had invented their characters, had made things more complicated by imagining Sestuka in love with her big brother. Off course Cain little sister was painfully beautiful and sexy... The filming had been hell for both.

Now Lory seemed to drive the point home by giving them instructions for the evening to come. As the ultimate master of love, Lory had arranged all the little details, from Setsuka's dress to the speech or rather the few words Cain would pronounce at the press conference. The highlight of the evening would be the night when her favorite couple would share the same hotel room and Kyoko would not be able to undo her dress alone. Yes, Lory had planned everything!

Kyoko didn't dare to look at her sempai, the idea of spending a night by his side while she did everything to avoid him filled her with dread. She shouldn't betray herself, if her sempai discovered her true feelings, he would despise her, and she would be devastated. That was out of question that he would find out.

Ren watched Kyoko out of the corner of his eye. Was that fear he saw on her face? Looking closely, she didn't seem happy at all to take on Setsuka's role again. She had a constrained look like when he ran into her by "chance" ... At those times, she always had things to do and only stopped greeting him briefly. He had to admit that Kyoko had been avoiding him since the end of filming. It was plunging him into a deep depression.

- I can go alone, he said. But Lory cut him off right away.

- No, Setsuka can't miss her beloved brother's movie premiere. Also, I want you to reveal your identities.

- Confess the truth! Kyoko exclaimed, horrified.

Confess, Ren thought... As if there had been a crime...

Yes, Lory continued, Ren is going to need all the publicity that will fall from this film to launch his career in the USA, his interview is in a month, so he must tell the truth by then. Moreover, the film's release is going to be very publicized. This is the opportunity or never.

- I agree, said Ren.

Silence around the fire. Kyoko seemed thoughtful...

- I liked Setsuka, she said, I'll miss her.

Ren didn't answer, he too had loved playing her beloved big brother and spending most of his time pampering her. But the game was almost over now, and he had to respect the distance that his kouhai wanted to take, even if it hurt him.

The meeting ended, Kyoko handed back the cowboy hat and flanked by her senpai headed out. On the doorstep, Ren murmured a goodbye, his throat tight. A goodbye that felt like a farewell…

What's going on? Yashiro-san asked.

For the twelfth time that day, Ren had let out a long, sad sigh. Plus, he had pretended to have an urgent phone call instead of rushing to the love me section's room. Finally, he had forgotten to offer to drop Kyoko off at her place by car. In short, things weren't moving forward at all between these two! They were going backwards!

Luckily Lory and her evil plans were there. In two days, they would be reunited to play the Heel siblings. Hopefully the plan would work as expected.

Ren feigned surprise and replied "everything is fine" with his business smile. He didn't need Yoshiro-san trying to get him and Kyoko together, Lory was already doing just fine on his own.

He was worried about Tuesday, not to mention his problems with Kyoko, he was afraid of his colleagues' reaction when they would learn the truth. Ren Tsuruga as the villain in a horror movie... That was new! He was going to have to apologize for Cain's mood swings and repeated lateness. Not to mention his belligerent attitude towards the star of the movie Murasame-san! In short, this preview was likely not to be fun.

Yet he longed to be pampered by his kouhai, Setsuka's role had been consisting of doing everything her brother wanted. Lory had imagined a little sister totally devoted to Cain, the character played by Ren. In addition, she had a serious Brother complex, which made her dangerously close to him.

He sighed and replied to his manager and friend:

- She is avoiding me.

Yashiro-san, who was no longer waiting for an answer, jumped.

- It's not possible. She respects you too much for that.

Ren continued:

- Yes, she's been avoiding me since the hickey incident... I scared her away.

- A hickey? What hickey? Tell me everything! His manager exclaimed.

Ren summarized in two words the circumstances that had led Kyoko to bite him and then give him a hickey on the neck. Maybe they had pushed the game a little too far. She was pure and ignorant of this kind of thing. Maybe he had crossed a line with this hickey.

Yashiro-san thought for a moment, quite unhappy that his protégé had kept all this to himself all this time. It was quite possible that Kyoko, shocked by her own actions, was trying to flee from her senpai. These two had to have an explanation.

- Ren, you must talk to her, tell her that this is a play, not reality. You must tell her that she has nothing to reproach herself for. Reassure her!

Ren thought for a moment then he answered:

-I'll do my best to speak with her on Tuesday, especially since disclosing our identities will put her in the spotlight.

He smiled sadly at his friend and went back to reading scripts for a new series.