MAN-TO-CHICKEN.
His voice was smooth and clear but powerful as he sang his latest single along with the music intensifying the performance. Thousands of fans danced to his rhythm as if he was the Pied Piper of Hamelin, leading the rats.
Kyoko wanted to stuff her ears to stop the sound from entering but it was so loud that It wouldn't have helped. The only reason she stayed after the interview was to apologize to the director for her outburst on the stage earlier. But if she had known there will be a concert in the end, she would have left sooner without the apology.
She managed to survive and listen to his song till the end. She sighed with relief when the monstrosity finally ended, but the stupid audience kept screaming, "once more, Sho," again and again. Fortunately, there request wasn't granted and there wasn't another song.
Once the show was done, Kyoko straight went to the director and apologized but he ended up banning her from the whole TV station permanently for ruining the debut of his otherwise perfect show.
The day just kept getting worse and worse. She went down the hallway to look for the changing room so she could finally take the stupid chicken suit off and leave. As she paced the long corridor, she suddenly realised that she was humming the song through which she just barely survived. She gasped and clapped her forehead. After everything that happened today, her stupid mind had to find that specific song catchy. She did all that to drop Sho's reputation and eventually kick him out of the industry and here she was, humming his song like it was no big deal. She was disgusted by herself.
I'm stupid, I am an idiot, I am a moron, she stopped on the way and banged her head on the corridor wall with every insult to get the stupid song out of her head. I deserve to suffer for being such an idiot. Someone should just knock me out.
"Ouch." The last bang was a bit too hard so her head started spinning. She looked for a place to sit but didn't find any in the empty corridor so she just open the first door she could find and walked in like she owned the place.
No way, she stopped dead in her tracks after finding out who was inside. Of all the people in the world, I don't need to see when I've hit lower than rock bottom, he's number two on my list, she thought as she cursed her luck. How much worse can this day possibly get?
It was Ren Tsuruga. It looked like he was waiting for someone 'cause he was just sitting on a bench doing nothing. His expression was a little anxious.
Fortunately, he didn't notice Kyoko, as he was lost in his own thoughts.
I'll sneak out before he sees me. She was about to leave but the apprehensive look on his face captured her attention. It was the first time she had seen him like that. She wondered curiously what he was so concerned about.
Is he alright? No! I can't worry about that. And what if he recognises me? The last time they met was when she gave him the finger. She wasn't ready to face him yet, or ever for the fact of the matter.
In the end, she made up her mind to not risk facing him and leave him be. But the moment she turned, she heard him speak, "wait!"
Crap! He saw me. Why is he talking to me? What could he want?
"Hey, do you have a second?"
She tried to run away but he caught the chicken tail of her suit.
Leave me alone! I am just passing through minding my own business. What does a huge superstar like you want with a nobody in a chicken suit like me? But of course, she didn't have the guts to say it out loud.
"I didn't mean to startle you," Ren said when he saw that she was trying to run away from him. He didn't find it odd because a lot of starstruck people were skittish around him.
But you did. Let go of my tail already!
"Please don't run away." He let go of the tail. She was free to go. She knew it would be absolutely crazy to stay. The day was already unlucky, staying with him would be totally stupid. But her curiosity got the best of her, so she decided to hear him out.
"I realise I don't know you and yes, this is a little invasive but I could really use your help."
Kyoko saw the hopefulness in his eyes and couldn't stop herself from responding, "well, if you think I can help," in an altered, heavier voice. She almost sounded like a guy.
"You are my lifesaver! Do you think I can borrow your cell phone for just a moment." His tone was filled with urgency. "Mine's at home."
He sounded so desperate that Kyoko almost hated herself for not being able to help "I am sorry. I don't have one."
He sat down on the bench again, looking gloomier than before.
Why is he acting like it's the end of the world? "Excuse me, doesn't your manager carry a cell phone?"
"Yes, usually," he replied, still looking down. "But he's not here today so I guess I am out of luck."
"Can't you just use the telephone on the reception if you want to call someone?"
"No. I need a cell phone."
"What could be so important that can't be done without borrowing a cell phone?" She wondered aloud. She wanted to get the hell out of here but she just didn't want to leave him alone when he was obviously so depressed.
She waited for the answer but it never came. He was lost in his thoughts again.
Kyoko's eyes darted around the room and stopped on the script book beside him.
"Oh, I get it. There are words in there you don't know. You need to look them up, right?" She wanted to buy a cell phone herself for this very reason. Everyone in the acting class had one and they were sick of lending her whenever she needed to Google something. She had been saving up to buy one.
His lips twisted into his perfect signature smile. "Of course not," he said like it was obvious.
She recognized that smile. It was the same plastic smile he had wherever he insulted her or deducted her points. People adored it but in the past couple of months, since she met him in person, she had come to learn that it was clearly fake. His smiled like that only when he was about to trick someone or say something nasty and cold.
She raised an eyebrow at him. She was sure he was lying about not knowing the words or else he wouldn't have used that smile. I know you, the brighter your smile, the darker your heart, and the more you have to hide.
"Yeah, but it's kinda normal for stars to lie about things that are actually true." Infact, it was you who told me that. Such irony! If you hadn't explain to me how things work around here then maybe I'd believe you. "Please, I am not buying it. Come clean, part of the script went over your head, right Tsuruga?" Kyoko felt so smug and giddy about using Ren's own words against him that she forgot she was talking to the biggest star in the industry.
"I promise you that's not it," he replied with the same phony smile, with the nice guy act.
"Oh, don't try to play it off," she pressed. She was hell bent on making him admit that he was lying. "That smile of yours might have all the Japan under your spell, but I'm immune to your charms. Come on, fess up!"
Kyoko turned to look at him to see if he is starting to crack up a bit but she found him glaring at her. At last, the realisation hit her. She was telling a celebrity and not just any celebrity, the biggest star of Japan that he was stupid and he didn't understand the script and also accused him of lying, all to his face!
His eyes was even colder than the time when she told him about her revenge. She took a step back uneasily. I think I finally pissed him off. He looks like he's about to kill me.
"So you got me all figured out now?" He asked coldly.
The only reason she stayed was to cheer him up yet she somehow managed to offend him. Since she had put this stupid chicken costume on, everything turned from bad to worse, like it was cursed or something.
A chill ran down her body as his cold aura reminded her of that murderous look he had when they shot the tea ceremony together. She got so scared suddenly, she groveled on the ground and cried out, "I am sorry I didn't mean it, I swear. I was only saying all those rotten things because I don't like you." Too late, I really need to work on this habit of spilling the truth all the time.
She closed her eyes tight shut wondering what he'll do to her. Just get it over with.
Instead, he chuckled. She looked up, confused. "I am sorry. I can't hold it in any longer," he tried to stop but ended up laughing even harder. "I just find your honesty quite refreshing. As a matter of fact, I appreciate it. It's the first time in ages, someone's been bold enough to say something like that right to my face."
"You mean, you are not mad anymore," she sat up.
"I was never mad to begin with. I was just messing with you and you got so scared..." He cracked up again.
"But I was so rude."
"I don't hold grudges against people, especially when they apologized."
Didn't see that coming, she thought. Pretty mature, even for him.
"Besides, you were pretty much right. I am the sort of person who prefers to keep things to himself."
Kyoko was surprised to see him being so gracious about the whole matter. She did go too far, even she would have been offended if she were in his shoes. Now she felt bad for pressing him so much.
She decided to make up for it by helping him with his problem. After a few more minutes of coaxing, he finally told her what was bothering him.
"Okay," Kyoko said after listening to him. "So you were on set today and they told you a scene had been rewritten and gave you a revised copy of the script. Then, where's the confusing part?"
"Well, it was something important enough for them to add to the script, which means you can bet they are assuming that everyone would understand it." He mumbled the rest, "I was hoping to research it on my own so they wouldn't find out that I don't get it."
Haha! I knew it. She decided not to tease him about it. "Which part don't you get?"
He opened the script and pointed on a specific line. She read it aloud, "...he was marching to a different drum..." "What don't you get?" She looked at him questioningly.
"Which doesn't sound like a big deal but there's the line I'm supposed to respond with, 'that must've been difficult for him.'"
"Then just say it," Kyoko replied with a duh-look.
"But here is the problem. It doesn't indicate what kind of song it is, or how heavy the music and lyrics might be."
"Huh?" Wait, what?
"If the sound's intense then obviously my reaction would be of genuine sympathy or shock."
Does he seriously not get it? She had to bite her tongue to stop the laughter that was bubbling inside her.
"If it's whimsical, then I would be amused. This scene needs to be perfect and it's driving me crazy to figure out what is that they want."
Poor guy, he really doesn't get it. She sealed her lips tight shut, not trusting herself to speak.
"Bottom line, I have no idea how to deliver the response if I have no idea what kind of sound it is in the description," he went on, totally clueless.
Just keep it in to yourself. Don't cave, she held her breath.
"So can you tell me what you think it is?" He turned to look at her. "What kind of drum are they actually talking about?"
She opened her mouth to breathe and...ended up roaring with uncontrollable laughter. She rolled on the floor, holding her stomach, which was aching now, but still couldn't stop herself.
"I fail to see what's so funny here," Ren finally asked with a bright red face.
She talked between chuckles, "sorry...but that's the first time I've ever heard that interpretation." She explained to him the real meaning of the phrase, "it means that he's acting in a different conduct than most people. There is no drum..." She cracked up again.
Ren stood there like an idiot, feeling embarrassed after listening to her explanation.
Kyoko was finally done laughing, so she started to get up but her foot slipped and she dropped down again.
"You okay?"
"I'm just a little dizzy."
"You have been in that costume for a while. Lemme help you with that," he tried to pull off her mask but she jerked her head away.
"You said you weren't feeling well. Why don't you take off that mask?"
In truth, she couldn't wait to get this thing off but she had no other excuse so she said, "um... I got fired from this gig today so I want to wear this suit for a little longer before I have to turn it in."
"If you refuse to let go of what's already gone, you'll never move forward," he tried to reason with her as she got up.
"What would you know about it? You've never been fired in your life."
"Yes, I have."
"You're just saying that ."
"Wrong. When I was first trying to make it big as an actor, I cut too many corners. On my very first gig, I didn't listen to anything the director told me to do and I was out. And that's just one of hundreds..." He shared a few more examples.
I had no idea, she was surprised. He's actually not perfect. I always thought he was just discovered one day and became an overnight sensation.
"Hey listen," she asked the question which was on top of her mind. "You're such a big star now, maybe the biggest, so how come we never heard about your time as a struggling actor? You probably get tons of publicity from that."
He flashed his phony, signature smile again and shrugged, "I don't know."
You jerk! You're totally blowing me off, lying through your perfect, camera-ready teeth, she frowned angrily. Of course he wouldn't share every secret of his success.
"Are you upset? I am sorry, spending all the time in America has made me a little lazy and oblivious," he said wryly.
Fine. Don't share. I don't even wanna try being your friend anymore.
"Tsuruga!" The door opened and a man called. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go."
"Okay," Ren nodded to her and left in a hurry.
She was about to leave as well when the door opened and he came back.
"I just wanted to say," his lips upturned into a warm and affectionate smile. "Thank you. For helping me out and for cheering me up. I couldn't have done it without you."
His genuine smile took her by surprise and her heart skipped a beat. It was a lot different that that plastic smile, she could tell that it came from deep within his heart. It was... beautiful. There was no other way to describe it.
"Later," he left again. For good, this time.
I just don't get that guy, Kyoko thought with a pounding heart and warm, flushed cheeks. It's like dealing with Jackal and Hyde. He can be so dark and intimidating, but then he does things that are so funny. He's a lot nicer than I thought.
On her way back, his smile kept floating inside her head making her cheeks burn and brought a stupid grin to her face, which she tried to fight off.
I should have thanked him back, she thought. That complement really cheered me up.
The time she spent with him, she actually forgot how terrible her mood was. It was the first time she cheered up so quickly without Corn's stone. Who would have thought she'd end up enjoying his company so much? She fought that grin off her face, but it was no use so she gave in. It stuck to her face on the whole way back.