Consequences

Chapter 1

Straight to the heart of the matter. He had told her everything. The fact that he felt guilty over Rick's death didn't bother her, she sympathized with him on that particular matter. However, the fact that he had been lying to her for so very long and acknowledged every female after declaring his love for her in Guam sent a cold blast of liquid nitrogen over her heart and handed a hammer to the little tart Kimiko Morizumi to smash it into so many bloody shards.

"That's nice, Kuon...Thank you for telling me. You can feel safe in knowing that I will keep your secrets." She turned and stoically walked away, leaving him confused and stunned. He thought she would be happy. Happy to know that he was Corn, that he was her fairy prince. She was supposed to be, right? He combed his mind for answers and it all kept coming up blank. He had expected that reaction for his violence that led to Rick's demise, but most certainly not the news that he was Corn/Kuon Hizuri.

Yashiro was stunned when she deftly removed the little black book containing her and Ren's/Kuon's schedules with ease and began looking it over. For the past few days, it seemed as though she had been of a Natsu-ish attitude and he was a bit perplexed.

"Yashiro-san..." Her voice lilted menacingly. "I would appreciate it if you no longer schedule my free time to coincide with Tsuruga-san's. He already has a girl he's in love with and it wouldn't be good for his image to be seen with me and I prefer not to associate myself with men that enjoy playing around." Men that play with women's hearts. She added mentally. I will not be his side girl.

Yashiro gaped in silence and nodded as she slammed the day planner on the table before him in anger and strutted away to her dressing room, leaving him to change the carefully constructed schedules and eat his bento alone.

What the hell just happened? Ren has a girlfriend? Who? He racked his brain trying to think of anyone that Kyoko may be referring to. Surely not Morizumi-san or Kana-san... Kyoko wouldn't believe something like that, would she? Yashiro panicked. Was that what happened at the audition to disturb her? Surely Ren would clear up that misunderstanding.

Yashiro worriedly trudged down the hall to her dressing room to gather more information and possibly rectify this horrible situation. What he didn't count on was Kyoko accepting Hiromune Koga's 487th attempt at asking her to dinner and a movie, and she did it with such aplomb that it had forced Yashiro to have to find a seat for the fact that his legs had almost literally stopped working and the breath had been forced from his lungs.

He pulled on a glove, whipped out his phone and dialed. "Shachou needs to know about this." He whispered to himself as the phone rang on the other end.

She sighed heavily as the idiot slipped into the lounge after her manager had left to get her a bottled water from the catering table. "What do you want, Sho?" She asked wearily.

He smirked at her cockily. "I just came by to make sure that you're keeping up your end of the bet."

She rolled her eyes and went back to reading her magazine.

"Oi! Pay attention to me!" He sat roughly on the seat next to her.

She glanced up at him boredly, shut the magazine and tossed it on the coffee table. "Sho... I'm really not in the mood for this. Can we discuss this some other time?" She said flatly.

"So then I guess this means you'll be leaving for Kyoto soon?" He asked arrogantly.

She furrowed her brow. "And why would I do that?"

"You fell for him didn't you?" He narrowed his eyes and moved closer.

"Sho... I don't know where you get your air headed ideas, but no. I'm pretty sure I don't want to be used by another womanizing jerk that strings me along for my 'housewife' skills." She spat out. "I don't want it and I don't need it and I certainly don't need you to remind me of how unlovable and worthless I truly am. I have plenty of people to remind me of that everyday." She finished and Sho winced.

"You aren't worthless... I... I lo..." He felt the need to tell her. To finally prove her wrong.

She looked at him with that hollow and beaten look. "Don't bother Sho. I've never heard it from anyone before. Why start now? I don't want your lies or, your pity." She stood and opened the door to let him out to find a stunned manager. "Oh, Yashiro-san is it time for the interview?" She pulled on her public persona she had created to hide the pain and asked him sweetly.

Yashiro just shook his head. He was speechless after hearing the conversation he felt he wasn't meant to hear. How could one so sweet go her entire life without at least one person telling her those three important little words? His heart hurt for her.

"Takarada-san, I'm telling you... Not a single person has ever told her that they loved her. Not one. She said it herself." He told the stunned man.

"No one?" He asked with sadness in his voice.

Yashiro shook his head. "Well, she had mentioned that her fairy prince Corn said it to her in Guam, but then she got this strange look about her. It seemed as though she was angry. Kind of like she gets when she speaks to Fuwa-kun and then she just started muttering things about lying bastards that like to toy with peoples hearts. I have no idea what she meant about that."

"Corn? Are you sure? When she was in Guam?" Lory asked, he had a hunch.

Yashiro nodded. "I'm certain. She had told me about him and her first kiss one day at lunch. She didn't seem too happy about it."

"I wonder why." Lory said dryly. Oh, he knew alright. He just didn't know the entire story or, that Kuon had confessed to her. No wonder it angered her. The only time anyone had ever told her they loved her was while in character. To her it was all a lie, Cain, Corn, Ren. None truly existed and Kuon was using them as a shield, while downplaying the seriousness of his most recent female encounters.

He was ecstatic. The ever elusive Kyoko had agreed to dinner and a walk in the park with him, a date. A real date, not lunch during work or, a gathering with the cast and friends. This was going to be a date and he would finally have something that he wanted that Ren Tsuruga didn't have. He would have his own little piece of heaven called Kyoko to enjoy all to himself.

Initially, when he met her at the auditions and during the first couple of months during filming, he thought that he didn't have a snowball's chance on a summer sidewalk, but on Tuesday she had agreed to go out with him, on a date (he clarified that with her to be sure) on Saturday. He had the day all planned out. First to breakfast, on to Tokyo Disneyland, lunch there, more fun, then in the evening he would take her to dinner, a walk in the park and perhaps dancing or, something to that effect. She really didn't seem like the kind to go clubbing so, that would remain to be seen. He didn't care what they did together though, he was just happy that she accepted, especially since Kotonami-san made it very clear to him that it was Kyoko's first date and if the scary young woman discovered that he had done anything unseemly, she would make certain he would live to regret it. He shivered at that thought and chuckled. Why do all the beautiful ones have such scary friends?