Epilogue

The next day

The doors opened at 8am and not 15 minutes later did the first person come in. The conference room filled up well before the scheduled time. The exceptionally large room felt incredibly small as all the eager minds sat and spoke among themselves, wondering and imagining their own scenarios of what had happened.

The press conference started at 10am sharp. President Lory Takarada stepped up on stage, flashes going off and cameras rolling during the live feed.

"I'd like to thank you all for coming today after such short notice. I also would like to apologize that the focus of this press conference is unable to attend due to the nature of his injuries." He looked around the bright room, and saw the questions arise from every face.

"I called this press conference today to formally announce that Tsuruga Ren is alive and in recovery." He allowed a pause for applause and general relief of the news.

"To clarify the motivation of his uninformed absence, his family was concerned of his well being and immediately transferred him to a private physician. The family refrained from informing anyone his whereabouts from fear of his welfare."

Another pause, "Tsuruga Ren sustained several injures while trying to prevent the mistreatment of the cast and crew aboard the yacht, Big City. He suffered from severe blood loss from three gunshot wounds and was in a coma from blunt trauma for three weeks, which he has just awoken from about 40 hours ago."

Gasping and hushed whispers were momentarily heard within the room. Lory felt that his plan worked. They couldn't reveal who his family was so if they focused on his heroic feats and the injuries that were acquired from it, they wouldn't ask who his family was and hence his secret would still be secured.

"Tsuruga Ren will continue to be treated at the private hospital for the next two weeks to ensure his recovery before returning to the screen. We appreciate all of your prayers and good thoughts that have been received during this difficult time. Again thank you for coming," Lory concluded and walked off the stage with hundreds questions coming at him, but this was not an answer and question conference, just providing a statement; however, if he heard things correctly, not one person asked about his family. Lory smiled triumphantly.

6 days later

"It's not fair!" the woman pouted, and she still looked sexy doing it.

"What isn't fair?" her equally handsome husband asked concerned.

"How is it that he eats everything that she makes for him but I can't get him to eat my food?" Julie whined.

Ren and Kyoko looked up from their meals. She has been cooking his meal every day and every meal since she found him alive and well about a week ago. She wanted to make sure he kept his strength up from his three weeks of healing. She wasn't the only one who had lost weight from this endeavor.

"First off, mother, she doesn't make as much food as you do," Ren spoke truthfully. Because of his father's bottomless hole of a stomach, Julie grew accustomed to make food for 75 people just to feed her lone husband. The true reason he didn't eat was because she wasn't the greatest of cooks, but Ren didn't really have the heart to tell his mother that. Kyoko's cooking was perfect. She cooked the amount of food he could actually eat, and it was absolutely delicious. Every bite of her cooking teased and tantalized his tastes buds just as much as she did him.

"That's not true. She makes just as much as I do!" Julie countered.

"Yes, but that is for Otou-san!" Kyoko said cheerfully with a smile, and Kuu just nodded.

"She learned right away how to feed me, and she is a great cook," Kuu complimented her as he stuffed more tuna steak into his mouth, so tender and well seasoned. Kuu took a piece of it and offered it to Julie which she promptly ate.

"I agree." It was heavenly, Julie had to admit. "It's still not fair." Kyoko tried to keep from laughing. Julie acted like a spoiled child around her child, it was so cute. How this family could look so cute and yet be so attractive was a mystery to her.

Kuu took Julie to the other room trying to comfort his wife, "I eat all your food dear, and when do we ever have leftovers, hmm? Never."

Ren sighed relieved, and he heard Kyoko giggle.

"What are you laughing about?" Ren asked. He was doing much better now. Well he was fine for a few days now, but the doctor wanted to monitor him so there was no brain damage that sometimes came from the coma. He was tested on memory, music and did some elementary tests to prove his brain was functioning normally.

"You. You said "first off". What is the second?" she asked as she took another bite of her bento.

Ren blushed and then leaned forward whispering, "You've eaten her cooking right?" Julie actually cooked the day after everyone was together. Everything was either under seasoned, over seasoned, over cooked or had a weird combination of flavors.

Kyoko laughed, and Ren couldn't help but smile. "Well, she gets easily distracted, but she does well for so much. Perhaps if I cooked with her, I can help her focus besides the mabo nasu was good."

Ren remembered that one. The eggplant was perfectly cooked, but she overloaded the spices and made it extremely spicy. Ren just shuddered in response which again made Kyoko laugh.

"Ok, ok, no spicy food for you. I get it."

As they finished their meals, Kyoko started to pack up the dishes to take back home and clean for tomorrow. He hated this part of the day when she left. It was an hour drive out to this place, and Kyoko started working again a few days ago. It wasn't so bad since she only had the one show. Make that the two shows, Box-R and Bo. He still couldn't believe that one. She sat down on the bed and then laid down beside him as she always did at the end of the night. He would wrap his arm around her shoulders, and she would rest her head on his arm. Kyoko looked up at him as she played with his hand, her fingers running up and down his palm and then his fingers.

"Tomorrow you start your physical therapy right?" she asked worried.

"Yes, but I've been walking around already," he admitted, "They say it shouldn't take long." She smelled so good. He nuzzled her hair with his nose, inhaling her scent.

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard!" she lectured, "You could hurt yourself if you go too quickly, and you didn't move at all for three weeks."

Ren smiled. "Thank you."

"For what?" she looked up at him confused.

"For thinking of me, for worrying about me. I'll be fine. I promise I won't push myself."

Kyoko turned away and blushed. He couldn't take it when she did that. The blood rushing to her face and that coy sweet look she had. He took her chin and lifted her face to his. He looked into her eyes and saw the warmth in them, trust and uncertainty along with eagerness. She held such sweet innocence. The poor lamb with the hungry wolf.

Yet the moment his lips touched hers, the little lamb shed her woolen coat and became ravenous. Her hand slipped up his chest very lightly, still afraid to hurt him and over his shoulder as her lips provocatively played with his. She was always a fast learner. She moved her mouth against his, taking his lip between hers, then she would dart that little tongue of hers and lick his lips. It drove him mad, the quick peek of something sinful in something so chaste and innocent. His right arm held her against him as she teased him, while his left hand tried to bring her closer, sliding from her arm to her waist then to her thigh. He brought her thigh to slide over his, his hand flirting dangerously close to the seam of her shorts, and then he felt her pull away.

She licked her lips, her eyes still closed. "I should go," she whispered, her voice thick and seductive.

Ren nodded but cursed himself. He went too far. She's only 17. He smiled a small smile to her and replied softly, "I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Yes, at 1 o'clock, and I'm free for the rest of the day," Kyoko told him and slipped off the bed, but then stopped and frowned, "But you'll be busy with the therapy right? Perhaps I should come later?"

"No, come when you can," Ren quickly replied, "You can help me." She nodded and bent down for a quick kiss goodnight.

One week later

Kuu and Julie returned home yesterday. They didn't want to go, but since Ren was alive and well and being well taken care of by Kyoko, they couldn't fight their contracts any further. Ren was happy to see them but was equally relieved to see them go as well. This was now the first time he was truly alone with Kyoko.

"Everything has been a huge mess," Yashiro stated. He was in the limo that was sent to pick up Ren. It was release day, and he was thrilled to be out again. He still had to take it easy, as too much movement would cause things to start to ache. They even supplied him with a cane should his leg start acting up.

"Everyone has been sending gifts, fans, companies, co workers, you name it, and they gave you something. People have been asking for rights to the story, and they want you to play yourself." Yashiro sat quietly for a moment, thinking.

"I wonder who would play me?" Yashiro asked rhetorically and then he shook his head coming back to reality. Ren just smiled while listening to Yashiro talk.

"The rest of the movie, Blood for Blood, will be filmed here in Tokyo. I'm sorry to say that the memorial services for…" Yashiro paused for a moment. Ren understood, Yashiro grew up a violent free life then he was shoved into it and that takes a toll. From what Ren heard about it after he left, he was never prouder of Yashiro.

"…for everyone who died has passed." Yashiro's wounds had healed perfectly, but he had a scar on his shoulder now, not that anyone would be able to see it in his perfect suits. Sometimes, you'll catch him stretching out his shoulder with a small expression of pain.

"I'm trying to keep your schedule as light as possible so once you settle, we will go through everything and will pick what you think you can handle," Yashiro paused, "Let me rephrase that, whatever I think you can handle. You'd just say yes to everything, and Kyoko would say no to everything."

Kyoko bristled up at that. "I would not!"

Ren also disagreed, "I know when to stop." Yashiro and Kyoko both disagreed with Ren. They arrived at his apartment, and Kyoko insisted that she help him up.

"If you aren't going to use the cane, then you have to use me. Just lean on me whenever you feel like you need to," Kyoko told him frankly making Ren smile a mischievous smile.

"Ren!" the elevator doors opened, and he had her pinned against the wall.

"I couldn't help it. I'm so weak," he said patheticly. He pressed his body against hers, his arms wrapping around her as she laughed.

"You liar!" she said laughing, "And you're suppose to be the top actor." Ren let her escape, but he kept his arm around hers and would sometimes lean into her, where she would promptly glare at him. No one who could control his weight this well could be considered weak. They entered the apartment and everything was spotless. Kyoko honestly couldn't remember if the place was clean or not when she left with Kanae. Given her state then, she doubt it was.

"I wonder who cleaned," she spoke out loud rhetorically.

"I have a cleaning service come on the first and fifteenth every month. They generally do this whole building, so they are very professional. Why do you ask?" Ren asked.

Kyoko blushed lightly to herself and told him, "I may have moved some things around when I was here."

"Oh. I'm sure it's taken care of now." He ran his hand over her hair and then kissed the top of her head and headed into the apartment. While his place didn't scream of personal touches, he was still happy to be home.

"I'm going to see if there is anything in the kitchen that's still edible for lunch. You just rest." He watched her go into the kitchen opening cupboards and going through the food, dumping what was bad and taking inventory of what was still good. Ren looked around. He found Queen and Princess Rosa on his table top and smiled. After looking around that was the only thing of hers that he saw. He walked into the guest bedroom, and it was perfect. The closet door was open and showed nothing within.

Perhaps she only brought the rose and necklace. He stepped into his room, sat on the bed and stretched his leg a little, trying to loosen the stiffness from the wound. It was warm out, and he wanted to change into something cooler. He went to his dresser, opened up the drawer for his shorts and pulled out a pair. He then walked over to his closet for a tank. He pulled off one and then froze for a moment. He looked over to his left and saw something very colorful hanging there. He shuffled over and took out the top. It was a bright blue shirt with pink and white flowers all over it and a butterfly on its right shoulder. He put it back and found another shirt, a pale yellow tank that felt silky to the touch, then next to it was a off white sundress. Ren smiled as he put away her clothes back in his closet. He moved to his other closet and sure enough there were two skirts hanging in the mist of his pants.

A dark thought entered his mind, and he went back to his dresser. He opened his drawers one at a time before reaching his desired goal. There they were. Things he had no business seeing but oh so desperately wanted to see on her though. The palest of pinks, blues and yellow along with white and the cutest patterns, her panties and bras laid neatly in his dresser in one of the smallest drawers because of how few there were. He closed the drawer quietly and then headed to his bathroom. He found her personal effects, deodorant, toothbrush and hair brush next to the sink where his were. Surely, he was in heaven. He was grinning like a fool when he emerged changed. Kyoko made them lunch, and he ate it happily, his thoughts lingering to her in his home, living with him everyday.

"You seem really happy. Happy to be home?" Kyoko asked inquisitively.

He nodded as he ate. "I am. How could I not be? I am alive and well, my secret didn't come out no matter how hard my parents tried, and I have the love of my life with me and has already moved in without me asking. The best welcome home gift possible." He grinned at her. He had slowly moved closer to her as he spoke. Now he was a breath away.

"Moved in?" Her voice was high and nervous.

"Mmmhmm. All your things are already put away with mine, and you're not getting it back."

"But, Kuon, I…We…" He kissed her, swallowing her words of protest. He pushed her gently down to the floor as he kissed her. She whimpered softly as she kissed him back.

"Ok," she spoke breathlessly. He grinned, winning the battle, pulled her up and sat back in his place. She licked her lips, trying to recover from his wanted assault.

"But I'm sleeping in the guest room!" she stood up and ran.

"We'll see about that," he replies stalking her. She ran into the bedrooms... where the only escape was through him.

A/N I hope you liked this extra chapter and that it helps counteract the depressing ones from before. Thanks for reading.