It wasn't the next day, that day the press and paparazzi plus the people that had turned up just shouted questions and obscenities. Neither Cain nor Setsu paid any attention to either group as they walked out of the hotel with security and into the waiting car that would take them to the studio.
It wasn't the next day either, though the amount of people had almost tripled along with the questions, camera flashes and obscenities. Today they were shouting threats, again the Heel siblings ignored them all. The world for them only holding each other as they yet again left the hotel with security and entered the car and were off to the studio for filming. It was the third day when it exploded.
"Nii-san, can't we just go home?" Setsu whined as they awaited the hotel security. The security being ever professional never showed their own feelings towards the siblings, doing their job efficiently and swiftly. On this day as Cain and Setsu stepped out from the hotel surrounded by the security staff, even the air felt electric as the chanting and shouting started. Today there were signs and posters painted on cardboard, old bedsheets and other such large surfaces on which they could write their messages of hate and persecution.
It happened like lightning. One moment the Heel's were in the centre of the security alone. The next there was a masked figure pointing a can towards them, the spray that hit Setsu straight in the face and Cain's jacket took a few moments to take effect as the security grabbed the assailant and Cain rushed Kyoko into the waiting car. By this point Kyoko was screaming.
Grabbing Kyoko's hands Ren refused to allow her to touch her face leaning her forwards so her head was between her legs. he shouted at the drive to get them to the nearest hotel, motel or anywhere they could use the shower!
"It's OK Kyoko, I need you to keep blinking!" Ren told her as he listened to her screaming sobs of agony
"It hurts! It hurts!" She screamed as she tried to fight against Ren's hand that held hers tightly, wanting to rub at the stinging, fiery sensation attacking her face and eyes.
"Keep blinking Kyoko! Just keep blinking! We are going to get you help just keep blinking!" Ren encouraged, his insides a roiling cascade of emotions. He wanted to alleviate Kyoko's suffering then kill the person who had put her into this pain. Remembering all the information he knew about pepper spray he knew they needed to get to the hotel quickly. Luckily the hotel had been chosen for its closeness to the studio, which is where the drive took them knowing they had all that was required. Cain Heel half carried the screaming and crying Setsu through the studio and to the dressing room he knew had showers. The driver and director plus half of the filming crew and cast followed.
"What happened?" Director Konoe asked the driver as Cain literally kicked the door open and raced through the room and straight to the shower unit. Turning the shower on cold he stood below the stream holding the still crying Setsu her face looking up into the cold, streaming shower.
"Pepper spray." the driver answered as the people in the room gasped, "She was hit by pepper spray, I believe." Director Konoe visibly paled at the thought of the kind and sincere young woman he knew to be playing Setsuka Heel. He was suddenly bumped to the side as one of the actresses made her way to the bathroom a bottle of milk and washing up liquid in her hands. Konoe watched as she ordered Cain to turn Setsu towards her. She put on gloves before she rubbed the liquid around Setsu's face, and gently around her eyes as Konoe decided it was time to get the spectators out of here.
The driver spoke to the ambulance service. "OK Setsuka-san, I need you to try and keep still for me." Matsunai Rio told her as she again washed away the oil based spray with the washing up liquid. She knew it would have already soaked into her pores but she prayed that she could at least remove the top residue and alleviate the young woman's suffering. She herself may not approve of their supposed relationship, but surely this was going a step too far.
"Heel-san we need to wash her eyes out with this." Rio said lifting up the bottle of milk she had grabbed from the kitchen as soon as she had realised what was going on. Cain just nodded at her. Setsu was still crying out in agony but the unearthly screaming she had been issuing when she had arrived had subsided as Cain pulled her out of the freezing shower and stood her before the slightly taller woman.
"Open your eyes Setsuka-san." Rio half begged the woman.
"It hurts!" she cried as she tried to force her eyes open.
"Please Setsu." Cain begged, as again Setsu struggled to open her eyes. As soon as they were open even a little Rio started pouring the milk over the affected area.
"I know I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Rio said as she poured the liquid over Setsu.
"Her contacts!" Cain suddenly said in perfect Japanese. It took Rio a few moments to realise what Cain was saying, but as soon as she realised she assisted Cain in removing what Rio found to be coloured contacts from Setsu's eyes.
"It's OK, It's going to be OK." Cain repeated over and over as they finally managed to remove the contacts from Setsu's eyes before putting her back under the freezing cold stream of water.
They repeated the washing and milk rinse twice more before the ambulance arrived. By this point Setsu was reduced to pained whimpers as Cain held her to his chest comforting her as best he could. He had removed his contaminated jacket, his soaking wet clothes sticking to his body as the paramedics looked over the now golden-eyed woman. Rio looked on standing besides Konoe as the medics did their job, popping in eye drops and applying cooling pads to the affected areas.
"OK Setsuka-san, the pain is going to continue for a little while yet and I'm afraid we cannot apply anything to help. But your brother and friends did the best possible things." Setsu nodded from Cain's arms as she clung to him almost desperately.
"I'll see what clothes we have available." Rio offered as the paramedics left with instructions to get Setsu to a hospital if there were any side effects other than the burning. Ren held Kyoko tight to him as she whimpered softly, Konoe approached slowly as the medics and Rio left.
"I will contact the necessary...people, though I think it is safe to say you will not be able to return to the hotel." Ren, or was it Cain, just nodded at his words as he tried to comfort the still shivering woman in his arms. Even wrapped in blankets she was shivering from pain and shock. Konoe realised thinking of the woman he knew her to be. "I don't think we can let this continue..." Konoe started. The safety of the actor and actress who the president of LME himself Takarada Lory had told him were the current number one and the future number one, was his top priority.
"No..." the voice was small that cut through Konoe's words, but he heard her anyway as he watched the woman who was experiencing immense pain sit up a little straighter in the man's arms.
"No...we can't. We have started now and as professionals we will finish the job we have been given." her voice was shaky, but underneath it Konoe could almost feel the pride in her voice that matched how she felt about her work as an actress. As the professional she was claiming to be.
This girl's got guts Konoe felt with a surge of pride for people like her, who took their jobs and roles to the next level. The ultimate professionals who would stop at nothing for perfection.
"Kyoko?" Ren almost begged with his voice. She knew what he was asking and she instantly refused.
"I will not back away from this Ren." The use of his given name shocked Ren back into silence as Kyoko settled back into his arms. "We have come too far to back down now." Ren could do nothing but nod, feeling the warmth of the woman in his arms and seeing the fire behind her now uncovered golden orbs. Her words held more weight than any argument he could have put forwards. Konoe nodded to the pair as he grabbed his mobile intent on making the call to their company president. As Rio returned carrying two sets of clothes she had begged for from the costume department.
"Here these should be better than the wet clothes you're wearing." Setsu turned slightly from Cain's chest and took the clothes with a still shaking hand.
"Thank you..." the soft voice that came from the woman who had always seemed so strong and brave shocked Rio slightly, but she supposed in her position she would have been in a worse state.
"Yes thank you, Matsunai-san." Cain added in his low, gravelly voice. She was shocked when both Setsu and Cain stood and bowed to her slightly. It wasn't what would be classed as a correct bow for the Japanese, but the fact that the Heel siblings had bowed to her was a stunning experience in itself. She bowed in return before exiting the room. Ren looked at Kyoko's golden eyes looking out from Setsu's body. Her entire face was red and irritated, her eyes swollen and he knew they would be uncomfortable for her as her tear ducts watered continuously trying to be rid the noxious substance. Ren assisted Kyoko to the bathroom where he waited outside whilst she changed behind the closed door. He also swiftly changed into the clothes Rio had brought for them.
The faded jeans and long sleeved T-shirt fit well enough since the costume department had his sizes of course. But as Setsu opened the door once more, Ren almost felt like smiling. The clothes were large on her but covering.
"I don't think much of their style, Nii-san." Setsu commented as Cain pulled the denim jacket tighter around her still shivering form. The red jumper she wore below only made her irate face stand out more prominently and not only Cain but Kuon wanted to tear the person responsible apart limb from limb. As Cain pulled his beloved little sister into his arms, all of the men fought against the anger that was filling him towards the people who thought a suspected relationship was just cause to bring someone the agony they had put his beloved through. A knocking at the door brought them back to the present as Setsu called for whoever it was to enter.
"Sorry Heel-san, Setsuka-san, but your parents are here..." Director Konoe said slowly, completely confused. Judging by the two faces looking at him, he wasn't the only one confused.
"Setsu!" a beautiful female voice cried as the door was pushed open with such force it almost bounced back into the face of the director and the man who was following the beautiful dark- haired woman who had appeared through the doorway only seconds before. She ripped Kyoko from Cain's arms and wrapped her securely in her own.
"Oh my baby!" the dark haired beauty said, crying as she held Kyoko to her chest. Setsu having fled as soon as she had heard the parents. She had felt it also in Cain as he had frozen below her hands at the sight. Now she was left wondering just who these people were?
"Well the cat's amongst the pigeons now." Lory thought as he watched the recorded footage of the attack on 'His' Setsuka. Sighing heavily he thought back on Konoe's words of Kyoko's flat out refusal to himself and Ren to be removed from this assignment. He had already decided that this would now be a full role so she would be getting paid for her work, but could he really allow her to continue when he knew now how dangerous this could be to her and his top star. Sighing loudly Lory gripped the bridge of his nose and rubbed his aching eyes.
Well they're not going to be hurting as much as Kyoko's eyes he thought as he remembered the girl's agonising cries as the door shut on the car that was awaiting them.
"Sir?" Sebastian asked stepping up beside Lory as he turned to look at the man.
"The hounds have landed sir." Sebastian said without expression as Lory smiled and thanked the man, who melted away into the shadows once more.
"So the real game begins." Lory said as he watched the news reports which had been streaming in hourly through internet sites, forum chat rooms and all other available media. It was almost like a civil war had broken out in the centre of Japanese culture, all because of the poison someone had spread about his children and Lory was determined to get to the source of this deplorable behaviour. This was not how he ran his business and whoever had thought themselves above his children was about to learn the hard way just how ruthless Lory could be.
"President." the voices behind him sounded, and Lory even in the circumstances couldn't help but smile as he thought about how his personal scent hounds would work for this cause.
"Kotonami-san, Amamiya-san. I have some information for you and also a job for you. Though the job will only be undertaken by your own free will." The number 2 and number 3 Love Me girls looked at each other shocked to actually be asked to take a Love Me assignment rather than being told. This made both girls realise just how important this job must be, as the girls took the seats proffered Kanae spoke for both of them.
"We're listening?"
Rio walked back through the corridors thinking upon what had happened with the Heel siblings. Setsu's golden eyes had been a shock to the actress. She may only have a small supporting role and she may be a very unknown talent, but golden eyes were something she had been hearing a lot about recently in the industry though she couldn't place the reason.
I wonder if it is just a coincidence? Rio thought as she made her way back towards the set. The cast and crew were all just mingling around, chatting, talking and discussing the new situation with the unfriendly pair who had been sent to work amongst them. Though as she listened to them talk she realised that most of the people seemed to agree that the younger Heel was who she felt pity for. She really didn't deserve what had happened to her. She was never really rude, she just wasn't interested in anything but her brother. She had even been the one in most of their eyes who had saved Murasame from a terrible fate that could have been his if Setsuka had not arrived in time to call out to her 'brother.'
Yes their relationship was strange, and yes it was 'incorrect', but had any of them really seen anything? They held hands and of course there had been that day Cain had arrived with a hickey on his neck, but who was to say that had really been Setsu? Who could contest that they truly did have an incestuous relationship? So Setsu had kissed Cain in front of reporters. Could that just be a game for the young woman? Was it her way of holding on to her beloved brother?
Rio had not really seen anything to suggest that they truly were in that type of relationship but if they were then as long as they were not forcing it upon her, could she ignore it? You can't help who you fall in love with after all.
It was while she was thinking these thoughts and heading to get herself a drink when she heard the voice.
"Yeah well, I want nothing more to do with it... If you release my name I promise you I will destroy everything you have and have worked hard for!...You had better remember!" with that the voice ended and Rio heard the footsteps receding away from her as she breathed in deeply.
"It couldn't be?...Could it?"