Loveless (Book 1) [Completed]

Chapter 60.

REUNION.

As they reached the studio, Yashiro threw a sideway glance at his client from the corner of his eyes. Since the moment he had broken the news about Kuu Hizuri, aka the former Katsuki, being at this studio as well, for some odd reason Ren had pursed his lips into a thin, hard line and had gone gravely quiet. As ridiculous as it seemed, he almost looked nervous. And it was a highly unlikely sight for Ren Tsuruga to be nervous of anything, let alone a retired actor.

"You know what, Ren?" Yashiro broke the uncomfortable silence between them when they entered the building and walked along the corridor. "It'll be fine. Even if Kuu Hizuri is at this particular station, the odds of us running into him are almost none."

"I'm not nervous," Ren flashed him a smile so genuine that Yashiro was almost tempted to believe him and he would have if he didn't know any better.

Yeah, right. The manager rolled his eyes. He didn't blame Ren because he himself would lose it if by some fat chance they did run into Hizuri, because that guy was a walking legend.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, some kid jumped into their way with an ear-crunching thud and the two halted to a stop gaping at him with surprise.

Yashiro recognised those ginger hair almost instantly and he glanced at Ren to confirm his suspicions only to find his client equally flabbergasted.

Only after this person straightened to reveal a familiar pair of big, sparkling eyes and an innocent face, they recognised her and their suspicions were clarified. It was no other than Kyoko.

Oddly, she was dressed up like a boy. And there was no hint of recognition in those hazel eyes of hers as she stared back at them with a small, polite smile. The kind you'd give a stranger when you stumble upon his way.

Yashiro cocked his head back at Ren to look for some kind of explanation but found all the colour drained from his employer's face, almost as if he had seen a ghost.

"Wait I remember you!" Kyoko flashed a broad grin as she placed her hand on her forehead. "You're Ren...um, Tsuruga?" She pronounced his last name as if she wasn't quite sure it was right because didn't remember it correctly.

Why was that a question? Yashiro wondered, as he waited for an explanation from Kyoko or for Ren to ask her if she had lost her damned mind.

"You're the guy playing the new Katsuki in Dark Moon, right?" Kyoko asked.

The manager looked at Ren again but his client had not moved a muscle, as if he was frozen in time. His eyes were so wide that they could have popped off his skull any moment. His face was as pale as a sheet.

"I saw you," Kyoko went on, "in that video Boss gave me." Whenever Hizuri had talked to the President, he had either referred to him by his first name Lory or called him Boss. Kyoko assumed that if young Kuon was really here, he would also copy his father and refer to Takarada as Boss, so she did the same.

Upon hearing the word Boss, whatever doubts Ren had in his mind were instantly cleared and it all started making sense. He finally understood why Kyoko was behaving the way she was, it was because she was in character. And she was playing his own past self, Kuon. At first he only suspected it because of her appearance and her behaviour, but he was sure when she called Takarada Boss, since years ago as Kuon he used to do the same.

"Well, from from what I saw," Kyoko continued, "compared to the older version, your Katsuki was pretty lame."

"Kyoko, what are you saying? It's really you, right?" Yashiro couldn't take it anymore. When he didn't get an explanation from either of those two, he finally decided to intervene. "What on earth is going on?"