Her return

Going Back

EDITED: Tuesday 04/07/20

The landline of the Takarada house went off and Sebastian answered, "Hello, Takarada mansion."

"Sebastian-san, could you please put President on the phone?"

"May I ask who this is?" The skepticism could be heard in the aide's voice.

"Oh, where are my manners? It's me, Mogami Kyoko."

"Mogami-san?"

"Mm-hm." She hummed in response.

"Hello, Kyoko-chan!"

"Hello, Takarada-san."

"What requires you to be blessing me with this phone call?"

"I'll be returning, President."

Kyoko was greeted with silence. Then, "What!? Really!?" Shock evident in his tone.

"Yes, sir." She smiled, she hadn't realized that she missed his abnormal exuberance.

"I'll book you a flight for tomorrow. Is that doable? "

"Yes, sir. I can't wait, see you when I arrive."

"I'll send Sebastian to pick you up."

"Hai."

The smile that graced Lory's face as he walked back into his face knocked down the two sitting on the couch, "What is it, boss?"

"Oh, nothing. Yashiro-san, could you do me a favor and call Kotonami-san?"

"Yes, but what for?"

"I need all of you to be here for the person arriving tomorrow, let's say nine o'clock at night?"

They nodded, but looked at him in confusion.

...Meanwhile, in L.A...

Kyoko was so giddy with excitement that she began packing... squealing like Yashiro. She was surprised at her familiar behavior,  but didn't stop squealing. Moko-san, Maria-chan, Yashiro-san, and... Ren. Not to mention, Okamisan and Taisho! Finally, I get to go back, but what if they want nothing to do with me anymore?

What if by returning, they'll completely denounce my existence!? What if they don't recognize me!? Baka, Kyoko! What'll Tsuruga-san think? Oh Kami, this'll be a long few days.

...Timeskip...

Kyoko found herself waiting just like she had done six years ago; insecure, nervous, and slightly unsettled. It's almost as if something was telling her to leave early, like just plane hop or something, but as her flight was announced she found herself bounding to the gate and boarding first class. 

Of course, she was disguised, but there were a select few who pinned her unique golden eyes, "Is that Akane?"

Yes, Akane was Kyoko's stage name, meaning 'deep red'. The red stood for the color hair she'd sported for the six years she was in the Hollywood Show Biz Industry, but when she decided it was time to go back she died it back to the comforting chestnut color it had been in Japan. She also had a red wig in her purse, so she could slip it on in an airport restroom, so people wouldn't recognize her as Kyoko. She smiled at the woman who recognized her, "Hello."

"Oh my God, it is her! Could I have your autograph!?"

She smiled politely and replied, "Of course."

She signed in her fluid, delicate scrawl and the woman gushed, "Thank you!"

"It was my pleasure."

With that the woman sat down in her seat and Kyoko sighed contently, I'll miss this country, but it's time to go home. My true home.  She sat down in her seat and closed her eyes, preparing for the eleven and a half hour flight home. 

...In Japan...

Ren rested his head for sleep and as soon as it took him, his dreams filled with images of her. Her smiling face as she received the Corn Stone for the first time, her announcing her plot of joining Show Biz for revenge against Sho Fuwa, and her as he kissed her completely unprepared lips. Setsu, Natsu, Mio, and finally Kyoko. All of those characters were just different variations of Kyoko locked away in her subconscious and he was around to witness the creation of all of them. 

First, there was Mio. Oh how he enjoyed watching her banter with herself about just what Mio's problem was with Mizuki and not to mention how much he enjoyed watching her scare the color out of Lizuka-san's face. Next, Natsu. How a girl could go from Feudal Era proper to, teenage/modern-times proper over-night was still a mystery to him. Of course, that was credit to him as well, but what astounded him most was her ability to challenge him into doing things he isn't willing to do at first. The challenge in her eyes that night ignited a fire he thought he had long since put out, but lo and behold Kyoko Mogami herself reignited it. Finally, Setsu; the only word he could ever use to describe her is: Wow. Never in all his years had he ever imagined Kyoko wrapped in leather and dressed like a punk rocker, but boy that image would never leave. 

Kyoko herself deserved to be her own category, she was like a Buddhist puzzle box. The more buttons you pushed and the more reverses you made you never got it open without looking at it truly and analyzing it. She always described her past in few words, but very rarely did she ever really converse about it and he understood painful pasts better than anybody. It's true, Ren had hated her in the beginning, but that was just because of her morals. Though, as soon as he heard the full story from her, he felt more hatred than Kuon could ever beat, but what made it worse was it was her beloved 'Sho-chan!' that she claimed would never betray her. Oh, how he wanted to bludgeon that asshole with a crowbar, how he still wanted to bludgeon that boy with a crowbar. It didn't matter that she was no longer there anymore, nothing could ever stop the love and possessiveness he felt and if the time were to come that he would hear about her wedding? He would thoroughly evaluate the man before even letting her even think about a ceremony, hell I know her best. I should be the one to make sure she has the best!

Whatever.

Ren found himself brooding... in his sleep and he opened his eyes to tears forming in them, "Why, Kyoko, tell me why!?" 

Ren sobbed himself back to sleep, dreaming of watching Kyoko walk away from him in the darkness and the only word that hung in the air like gloom was: Why? It was a whisper, a sigh of a word that made Ren's tears come back and he cried silently in his restless sleep.