I have gotten so bad at typing... Sorry for the long wait!

Chapter 6

RECAP: Sho confronted Kyoko, questioning her about living with Ren, and injures her emotionally. Kanae steps in and smacks him in the face in Kyoko's defence and warns Sho not to bother her again.

(88)

But for the slight strain around Kyoko's eyes, which was only noticeable to those who knew her well, one would never guess that she was stressed. Other than that, she looked fine. Her skin was glowing, she wore a bright smile and she diligently answered the questions that were directed at her.

'Why couldn't Tsuruga-sempai have kept that incident to himself?' she internally wailed.

She felt so embarrassed. There were so many questions flying at her, and she panicked each time. She wasn't sure what was an appropriate answer to give.

'Now I think I know how Director Ogata felt back then,' she thought, remembering the unfortunate incident that had caused the man to faint.

"But Kyoko!" piped up a shrill female reporter. "What about the rumours of violence on set? Care to shed some light on that?"

"Ah," Kyoko was startled. Such a blunt manner! "You see, it was actually a case of-"

"There was a disagreement between Cain Heel and I," Murasame spoke up, surprising the cast. "You know how rumours end up exaggerated. Honestly, it's amazing how a small disagreement could be blown up into something completely different."

The press looked uncertain. Here was the meat of a scandal, and it had turned out to be nothing more than mushy tofu? How could they sell that?

"Why did you refer to Tsuruga as Cain Heel?" another puzzled reporter questioned.

Murasame shrugged. "When Ren Tsuruga was in character, he ceased to be the Tsuruga we all know - anytime I interacted with him, it was the character Cain Hell that I was dealing with. I guess I still have difficulty grasping the idea that I was working with the popular Ren Tsuruga – Cain Heel is simply so different," Murasame laughed.

"Although he still managed to sweep some of my staff off of their feet," the director chuckled, trying to keep the mood light. "Even while playing a completely different character to his own personality, Tsuruga captured a heart or two on set."

The press laughed.

'That's it, focus on the rest of the staff,' Kyoko prayed. 'Don't focus on me, I'm not even in the movie!'

One of the reporters let out a gasp, though it went unnoticed by those around him. He stood up and exclaimed, "Kyoko! Is it correct that you are the same Kyoko who played 'Mio' in the 'Dark Moon' remake, and was featured on Fuwa's PV 'Prisoner' as the 'Killer Angel'?"

This, of course, caused a stir among the others present.

"Yes," Kyoko admitted with humility. 'Where is he going with this?'

"But you have not yet officially debuted – you are still a talento, correct?"

"Yes. The LME president feels that I need to grow more as an actress before I officially enter the acting industry."

This seemed to surprise the occupants of the room, except those who knew of Kyoko and her role in the Love Me section.

"I find that difficult to believe, Kyoko," the director spoke up. "You were completely terrifying as Mio. I had thought they had hired a real gangster to play that role!"

"A-ha," Kyoko squirmed in her seat. She was glad that her acting had been convincing, but less pleased that people assumed she was actually evil and cruel in real life.

"Does LME have any plans to debut you soon?"

"I'm afraid I am unaware of any plans," she smiled. "I am still a rookie, with much to learn. I am sure the president will let me debut when he sees fit."

And with that, the topic was closed. The press moved on, asking the actors about the difficulty in filming the scenes of violence, and interviewing the stunt doubles.

She could only breathe a deep sigh of relief after the interview was done. It had been completely exhausting. She could only hope that her sempai's earlier revelation would not stir up a hornet's nest and result in any bad press.

(88)

Lori had situated himself at the side of the room, just beside the reporters, watching over Ren and Kyoko as they handled the plethora of questions thrown their way. He was irked that so many of the questions were on the relationship between the duo, rather than on the movie itself and the filming experience. His brow furrowed as his irritation at Ren's revelation grew. He couldn't help but think that Ren had revealed it for purely selfish reasons – to annoy Sho Fuwa, claiming Kyoko as his before him.

Lori was unhappy that Ren had landed himself and Kyoko in the frying pan. The journalists could be merciless, particularly to the women of the industry. One of the reasons he had Kyoko work with Rurika was to improve her work attitude. She would have lost a lot of her fans had the media revealed that she suffered from the 'celebrity disease'. Given that Kyoko had not even debuted and was such a great worker, he did not want her slandered before she had a chance to win over the hearts of the Japanese public.

So he monitored Kyoko closely. Ren was an old hand at this now, and his answers were perfectly safe, with a few jokes at himself thrown in to add to his modest appearance. But Kyoko was new to this level of scrutiny. This wasn't a mere drama like 'Dark Moon', this was for a movie.

Lori was a little worried at what he saw. Kyoko was fidgeting. She had not been so antsy at any of the other press conferences, and she had seemed fine after he had spoken to her in the hallway. Had something happened in the meantime to make her so uncomfortable and worried?

Lori had not even raised his hand and Sebastian was by his side. "Mogami seems unbalanced. Did you happen to notice anything that could have unsettled her?"

"Yes sir."

Sebastian didn't come forth with anything other than that. What was it that he could not speak of here?

The president and his aid discreetly exited the room and in the adjoining hallway they were free to speak.

"Well?"

"It would seem the Fuwa boy isn't the only source of Ms Mogami's heart troubles." Sebastian revealed. "He got into an argument with her after you spoke to her, and in an attempt to wound her emotionally, he revealed that it was his family that took care of her after her mother dumped her."

Lori's heart ached for the young actress. If this was true, then the poor girl had been through more than she deserved, and he understood fully why Fuwa's betrayal of her had wounded her so deeply.

"Anything else?"

"I plan to keep an eye on Fuwa for the rest of the night. Kotonami intervened by issuing a threat and sealed it with quite a hard slap."

"Really?" Lori was surprised to learn the actress had put herself out there for another person. "It would seem that she also has opened her heart to love and friendship."

What to do, what to do... Lori realised that he simply did not have enough information on either of the girls and to fully protect them against the maliciousness of the media. He would need to know everything about them.

"Sebastian, I would like a discreet investigation into Ms Mogami's past. I have plans to graduate her and Kanae Kotonami from the Love Me section. Before that can happen, I will need to know all her weak points from which she can be attacked. I will need the same for Ms Kotonami."

"Yes sir." Sebastian gave a short bow and exited the room, leaving Lori to ponder the new information. His pity for young teen grew. He then wondered, was it possible that Ren knew about Kyoko's family issues? It would explain why the normally distant actor had taken it upon himself to befriend and mentor her. He frowned. It would be something else he would have to look into...

He returned to the conference room to see the staff of 'Tragic Marker' bowing to a flurry of flashing lights.

(88)

"Are you alright, Kyoko?" Ren questioned his kohai as Yashiro walked alongside both of them.

"Yes. Though I kept thinking I was going to mess up," she admitted.

He smiled at her. "You had nothing to worry about."

'Oh, yes, I did!'

"Hey! Kyoko!"

Kyoko, Ren and Yashiro turned to face the speaker who had called out.

"Ah! Murasame!" She acknowledged him with a slight bow.

"Listen, about earlier..." he started.

'What happened earlier?' Ren wondered, trying to guess from Kyoko's expression. She was suddenly on guard. What had this wannabe thug said to her?

"Which part?" she asked carefully.

"The date part," he grinned.

Ren and Yashiro stilled. Kyoko's cheeks pinkened.

"O-oh."

She paused slightly when she felt the aura of Ren's "Emperor of the Night" ooze from his very being. Crap! She didn't want him getting the wrong idea – she did NOT like Murasame in that sense! She had panicked over that small idea so much, that it didn't dawn on her to question why a date with Murasame would bring out Tsuruga's polite mask.

She started bowing anxiously. "I'm very sorry! I can't! Please understand! It's not you that I object to, there are other-!"

"Whoa, whoa." Murasame put up both palms in front of himself. "It's okay. I guessed that would be your answer."

"You did?" She blinked in surprise.

Ren's angry gentleman aura retracted as he watched the two before him with curiosity. 'How did he know that would be her answer? And if he knew, why did he still ask her?'

"Yeah." Murasame admitted. "But I wasn't going to give up easily. I mean, I'm never going to have a chance to date a cute girl unless I at least ask, right?"

Kyoko turned a violent shade of purple. 'Cute? Me?' she wondered.

(88)

On one hand, Sho was now uber-pissed off at being limited to non-alcoholic drinks. On the other, a more sensible part of him conceded that under these stressful and public circumstances, it was probably for the best. While bad press usually had little effect on a rock star's sales, Sho's management had drilled into him that the parents of his large 13-16 year old fan base would be less inclined to buy his CDs as gifts should he land himself in any major troubling scandal.

Sho's bad mood only served to increase on Kyoko's departure with the rest of the 'Tragic Marker' cast.

'Probably to clear up people's perceptions on her virginity,' the devil within piped up, nastily.

It only backfired on him. The idea of his rival being the one to be Kyoko's first outraged him. He had to take a deep breath and a long drink before his brain reminded him that Kyoko was way too much of a prude to do anything like that. And Ren didn't seem possessive enough of a lover to have been with her, nor did he act like someone who was awkwardly avoiding a one night stand.

Still, it was the lack of certainty that Sho hated. It allowed his mind to create images of Kyoko with Ren in an intimate fashion that only served to enrage and disgust him.

Sho was inwardly cursing when he noticed Shoko stalking towards him.

'That's all I need.'

He half listened to her as she berated his manner and warned him off away from Kyoko. However, her presence did switch his brain back to business mode, and he was soon mingling with a variety of producers and musicians.

He was a little surprised when he felt a tap on his arm. It was Hana Kawaii. Shit. He had forgotten about her.

He smirked at her, his pleasure evident in his glowing eyes. "Hey."

The rosy hue of her cheeks was beautifully complimented by a shy smile. "Hi."

"So you found me again," Sho crooned. "And just as I was about to hunt you down again. Sorry that I didn't find you sooner..."

"Ah! No, that's alright. I understand that you have other things to do," Hana smiled reassuringly, courage gained from Sho's apology. Had Sho's eyes not then been focussed on her lower mouth region, which happened to hover over her generous bosom, he would have seen how happily her eyes lit up as she smiled.

"Well, that's a relief," he smiled, and took a step closer to the young lady. "I hope you're enjoying the party."

"Yes, I am. As well as the wonderful music playing." She blushed once more.

It was only then that Sho noticed it was his song playing quietly over the speakers.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you have fantastic taste in music?" He grinned mischievously down at the petite woman.

He didn't take much time to admire the blush that was moving from her cheeks to her bosom as the 'Tragic Marker' interviewees flooded back into the party room.

'Kyoko.'

It wasn't like he could run up to her, yank her away and interrogate her. The audience aside, her watchdogs would intervene and create an even bigger scene than if he did so uninterrupted. It was bad enough that he had been humiliated in front of that B-list gangster actor. Sho did not want a repeat of what had happened earlier to reoccur here, and not with Ren Tsuruga watching.

As he pulled his gaze away from the group, his eyes met Murasame's. He returned the man's pathetic glare with a slight derisive toss of his head.

Hana Kawaii also had been watching the group with interest, and thus had missed the intense look Sho had for the group, and only turned to face him again as his hair settled down from the hair toss.

His brain was still fizzing about Kyoko, but Sho decided he should keep talking to Hana. "So, what did you think of it all?"

(88)

Kanae swooped in to occupy Kyoko's side straight after the conference. Sho Fuwa was out there and it was hard to guess what he might try and do. Granted, he tended to confront Kyoko away from prying eyes, but there was something about him that made her uneasy. She was quite worried that her earlier assault may have inflamed him, and she wanted to be around to protect Kyoko from the consequences of her action.

Ren was with the two women, but the atmosphere between them was a little strained. Kyoko's smile looked tired, and her eyes darted around the room, as if scouting for someone, as she sipped on her drink and chatted. Ren noticed this and Kanae noticed his concern.

'The little vein on his neck is jumping,' she noted. 'He must be dying to ask her what's wrong... but he won't ask with me around... should I leave them alone?'

She decided not to. Now was not the time for Kyoko to bare all. Now was the time to keep up appearances, lest some pesky reporter find something nasty to publish.

She could have kissed Yashiro when he joined the group. He was full of praise for Kyoko and her performance as Setsuka, and the tension within the group eased.

"It was such a great idea! I mean, I know how hard it can be to look after Ren – with his terrible sleep schedule and diet-"

"Hey!" Ren weakly protested.

"-but to look after and manage him as another character must have been all the more difficult. Yet it looks like you convinced everyone, Kyoko. You truly are a fantastic actress!"

"Ah, thank you so much," Kyoko beamed. "Although Tsuruga-sempai was not difficult to manage. I think he actually ate more as Cain Heel."

Both she and Yashiro chuckled as Ren resignedly shook his head. The four continued to chat, with various actors, singers, producers, and the ilk that rotated in and out of the group. A party vibe filled the air, and the dance floor was soon coated with people dancing to the latest pop and dance tunes, with some of the composers flushing with pride when people complimented them on their creations.

Kanae and Kyoko took to the floor, and Ren pulled away from the group to get a drink. That's when he saw Fuwa focused on the dance floor – on Kyoko and Kanae, to be specific.

A fire rose up in Ren, and the part of himself that he had labelled Kuon reared its ugly head. He squashed the urge to run over and scare the visual kei star. But rather than rejoin the conversation, he stood back, sipped his drink and monitored the bane of Kyoko's existence for a moment.

(88)

Sorry that this is so... actionless. I was having trouble with this for a while, but I think I'm back on track.

I hope you think Kyoko's reaction to Murasame's proposal was somewhat IC. I just needed him to do that to point out to her that she is cute and deserving of love (i.e. I'm trying to undo the damage caused by Sho's hurtful comments).

.

And OMFG! The latest chapter (204)! *faints* Though I don't know if I will be able to include details from it in this fic. Still, it's KUON! Eeek! I wonder will she recognise him as Ren (she did when he was dressed as Cain), or will she be so overwhelmed with meeting the 'fairy prince' again that she won't notice? And if the latter happens, will she find her heart torn between Kuon and Ren?

Sorry for fangirling ^^;