Convergence Zone

Disclaimer: This series doesn't belong to me.

Teaser: Due to an unexpected surge of popularity in the United States, the show and several cast members of Dark Moon are nominated for Emmys. The cast is invited to attend the Emmys and to film a one-shot special on U.S. soil. It is only natural for Hizuri Kuu, the original Katsuki, to invite the cast to stay on his estate. Will Tsuruga's secret be revealed?

Chapter 1 – An Underground Upsurge

As often happens today, it started out on the Internet.

Johnny Holt was the son of August Holt, an international businessman. He accompanied his father to Japan and was spending the evening with the teenaged son and daughter of a Japanese businessman while the adults discussed some multi-million dollar deal. He was actually having fun when suddenly the cute daughter looked at her watch and exclaimed, "It's 8:45 Onii-chan!" Kurei, the older boy, immediately accelerated and began zipping through traffic. Within minutes they were past the gates of his father's estate and up the driveway. The car had barely skidded to a stop when both brother and sister hopped out. "Hyaku!!" the girl shouted, practically dragging Johnny out of the car.

Johnny didn't know what to think as he was dragged to a couch and the siblings plopped down to watch television. He had never been much of a TV watcher, so he felt annoyed that his fun evening should be interrupted like this. It only took a few moments before he was completely captivated by the image of a dark, brooding, but somehow sexy young rich girl as she terrorized another beautiful young girl and a tall, unnaturally handsome older guy. He became so absorbed that he didn't even feel flustered as the cute, teenaged girl next to him practically cuddled up to him in her enthusiasm for relating the details of the first season.

Before the end of the night Johnny had learned a lot more about the show and about the scary, scarred antagonist who seemed more like the star of the show. He had also seen clips of the actress, Mogami Kyoko, as a schoolgirl, a demonic angel, and as a sultry, impossibly sexy bully. He was just as hooked as the two siblings.

Johnny Holt flew home at the end of the week with DVDs of the first season of Dark Moon and a bootleg disk with clips from the young actress' other performances. Within a day of arriving home he had subbed the first three episodes and shot them out to both YouTube and Veoh.

Bored browsers found the episodes. They watched them and told their friends, who told their friends. Within a month of the first posting, "Dark Moon," "Mogami Kyoko," and "Tsuruga Ren" were the top three searches on all of the major U.S. search engines.

The entertainment industry, experts at spotting and adjusting to trends, was quick to catch this upsurge. A little research allowed the trend-watchers of Global Allied Entertainment, Inc. to realize that Dark Moon was a remake of a show filmed twenty years before, starring Hizuri Kuu, Hollywood's most popular action star. This really excited the trend-watchers, and led to several important overseas phone calls. The die was cast.

* * *

If you look up the word "oblivious" in the dictionary, you should find a picture of Kyoko next to it. It wasn't a matter of intelligence; she had more than her share of brains. It was just that Kyoko was totally un-self-aware. She was half-way into the second season of Dark Moon, just wrapping up the first season of Box-R, a veteran of four commercials and three music videos, and currently starting to film two additional dramas, (not to mention that she was Japan's most popular chicken) but she didn't think of herself as a star. Oh sure, she had been complimented for her performances, and she had even been described by some as cute, beautiful, and sexy, but those were just her characters. As much as she loved playing those parts, whenever she stepped away from the characters her mind would see them as other people, not manifestations of herself. The characters might be funny, powerful, beautiful, cute, and sexy, but not her.

Almost any other teenaged actress, especially if she were a fledgling actress with less than two years under her belt, would have had her head turned by her sudden rise to stardom and her exploding fan-base, but not Kyoko. She continued to live above the little restaurant, ride her bike to school and work, and call all of the veteran actors "sempai."

The one defining characteristic that she had from other budding actresses was the fact that she could interact with amazing ease with veteran stars like Tsuruga Ren and executives like Lory Takarada. Which is why Kyoko wasn't surprised at all to see the two power-house men lounging together in the viewing area of Dark Moon. While the rest of the cast members were hovering at a distance, she simply strolled up to the pair and gave a slightly formal bow, "Takarada-Kaicho, Tsuruga-san, good morning. I saw the elephant train outside and thought that you might be here. Sir, what brings you to the set today?"

While Kyoko might have been oblivious in many areas, she had developed a remarkably keen antenna for Tsuruga's temperment. "Tsuruga-san, is everything ok?"

Ren looked pained, but Takarada was the one to answer. Dressed as a maharajah, all in beautifully embroidered silk, he slouched regally back and replied, "I'm just discussing the room and boarding arrangements for your upcoming trip."

"Trip?" Kyoko looked confused and worried, "I wasn't aware that we were taking a trip. I thought all of the filming for the rest of the season was in the studio."

"Mogami-san," a soft voice behind her caught her attention and she turned to find a beaming Director Ogata, "Dark Moon has caught on in the United States. It seems we have been nominated for Best Drama Series by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences," he paused to let that sink in, "and Tsuruga-san has been nominated for Best Actor…"

Kyoko had gotten excited by the first announcement, but she practically lost control at the second. She immediately turned around, grabbed Tsuruga's hands, and then hugged his neck in her excitement. Just as quickly as she had done this she realized what she had done and leapt backwards, red-faced and apologetic. "Forgive me, that was an inappropriate way for me to behave." Then, unable to contain her excitement, she continued, "but, but, that's just wonderful news!"

Lory Takarada raised an eyebrow teasingly at Ren, who was looking at the flustered young girl with a mixture of affection, amusement, and tolerance, "Mogami-san, why don't you let the Director finish?"

Kyoko turned back to the slightly built man in consternation. She bowed, "Director Ogata, please forgive my rudeness. Please continue."

Ogata beamed, "Mogami-san, you have been nominated as well. Best Performance By an Actress."

Kyoko was stunned. In fact, she instantly slipped off into her own little world as her brain held a conference with all of her little demon allies, trying to make heads-or-tails of the director's announcement. Angels, demons, and even Mio and Natsu somehow appeared around the conference table to discuss the problem.

[He said something about some award]. [It's a trick, a trick I tell you!]. [I bet my scar would make half of the actors lose their lunches]. [How marvelous! If we were nominated, that means that someone else who wanted to be wasn't nominated. Hmmm, I bet that hurt.] Whatever the conference in her head, her response in the physical world was predictable, "Hu-u-u-a-ah?!?! What are you talking about?"

Ren and Lory chuckled as Director Ogata went on to explain, "that's right, Mogami-san, you've been nominated. In fact, we have decided to bring most of the cast to Hollywood for the awards ceremony! And while we are there, we are going to film a Dark Moon special in California!"

Kyoko looked back and forth between Ren, Ogata, and the president. Once again, it was Takarada who spoke up, "One more thing, Mogami-san: since you are going to be in Hollywood, Hizuri Kuu and his wife Julie have extended an invitation. They want everyone to stay at their mansion for the visit."

This time it didn't take even a second for Kyoko to understand, "Papa-sensei!! We're going to stay with him!!"

Kyoko was totally unaware how radiantly beautiful her smile was at that moment. She would never have believed that half of the males in the room would be haunted by that smile for the remainder of the day.

Nor was she aware of the concerned frown on Tsuruga Ren's face.

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Note: Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. Also thank you to those who posted favorite author and favorite story. I made quite a few mistakes in this, so your support is appreciated.