Chapter 16. Corn.

"How can you possibly know what father thinks of you when the two of you have never really talked? You never even gave him a chance," Kyoko snapped the line from the script at Maria.

"Stop it! He says he loves me every single time. It's always the very last thing he writes." Maria screamed. She looked down, wiped her face and turned to her grandfather after she finally calmed down a bit. "I always thought he wrote to me because you told him he was supposed to. That's why I never wrote him back. I was scared he would never reply and I would sit through waiting. I never wanted to know for sure that daddy hated me." Her eyes turned watery again. "So I was never able to see if that was true that he actually wanted to talk to me."

Kyoko put her hand on Maria's head. "There. You got your answer," she said kindly with a smile. All the the previous resentment from her was gone now.

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Kyoko filled the admission form happily. Today really was her lucky day. She looked up to see if Moko was as excited as she was to get into the academy.

Moko wasn't filling her form or smiling, instead she was giving Kyoko a mock glare. She looked at her questioningly, "did...did I do something wrong or something?"

"Well done," Moko said grudgingly. "You had it all planned out."

"Um...I don't know what you mean."

"Don't play dumb! You planned on switching to the younger sister's line from the very beginning, didn't you? That was the perfect place to make the switch."

Kyoko's cheeks flushed as she scratched the back of her head. It was embarrassing to be praised and by Moko of all people. She chuckled, "you got that, huh? After what you said about being true to the writer's words and stuff, I really struck and switched the lines and everything could still totally work out."

"That was a big risk. What did you plan on doing if she just gave you a blank stare and never realised that you wanted her to pick up the other line?"

"Dunno. I just had a sense that if I started throwing her lines back at her as Flora then she'll have no choice but to respond with my own." She grinned, "it worked. When I switched it up, she froze and then grabbed for the first thing to get out of it."

"You're nuts." Moko had this odd feeling about Kyoko. She found her an idiot and absolutely and totally reckless and crazy. But she was able to pull this off because of that recklessness. She had the guts to stand up and prove her point.

No one else would have been able to pull such a stunt but no one else would have been reckless enough to try it in the first place. Kyoko was truly something else.

At first, Moko didn't even regard her as a competitor but now that she had seen her true potential she saw her as a threat. Since they were almost the same age and also in the same agency, sooner or later, they might have to face against each other for a role.

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It was half past midnight when Kyoko and Moko along with Maria and the President, rode back to the agency in the president's limo, who was gracious enough to offer them a ride.

On the whole ride back, Kyoko and Maria chatted like BFFs.

"What?" Maria shouted after she found out about Kyoko's scholarship getting cut in half. "After all that, you still have to pay your entrance fees and tuition?" She glared at her grandfather who was sitting beside her.

"Well, you see..." Kyoko explained how she started talking to Maria in the middle of the scene because of which, the other students didn't accept her full scholarship. The President had no choice but to agree since he had said in front of everyone earlier that, only if Kyoko could finish the scene then she will get the scholarship.

"Those jerks are such... jerkfaces." Maria shouted in frustration.

"it's alright," Kyoko smiled "Your grandfather told me I could have a payment plan and at least they know that I am paying my own way now."

"I am so sorry, this whole thing is my fault." Maria felt responsible because if it wasn't for her then Kyoko would have finished the scene.

"Don't make such a big deal out of it. I will be absolutely fine. More importantly, have you written back a reply to all those messages your dad sent you?"

"No, not yet." Maria said timidly.

"Why not?"

"It's hard. What am I supposed to say after not answering forever?"

"Well, you can start by telling him about your day..."

And their chatter went on for the rest of the ride.

The President looked at Kyoko. Even he was surprised when he saw how close Maria had gotten to her in just a day. This girl, he thought. She is clever and talented. She knew exactly how to handle the scene and help Maria. She is willing to go above and beyond.

          Kyoko mogami, she may even outshine my grandest expectations.

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When they finally reached the agency, Moku was the first one to jump out of the limo. Before anyone got out, she stormed inside the building.

Kyoko was startled by her sudden abruptness, so she called out to her, "Moko!"

Moko neither stopped nor looked back.

Kyoko called out again, in case she didn't hear her, and this time she cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify the sound. "Stop! Wait. Where are you running off to? I still want to talk to you."

But it was no use. It was clear now that she was deliberately ignoring her.

Oh, shut up, Moko answered her silently. You talk too much.

          I wasn't taking her seriously before, I thought she was just a nerdy wallflower but she is a threat. I am not interested in being friends with my competitors.

She had planned to slip away quietly so she wouldn't have to be alone with Kyoko but it was ruined because of Kyoko's big mouth. Now the President must be thinking that she has an attitude. Could it get any worse?

Outside the gate, Kyoko was wondering what was wrong with Moko when Maria took her hand to say goodbye before leaving.

"Don't forget to reply to your dad. Doesn't he email you around this time?" Kyoko said.

Maria looked at her like she was about to say something but decided against it. In the end, she said it anyway. "Can I ask you something, big sis?"

"Big sis?" When did that happen?

"That's how I think of you so I hope it's okay. Anyway, what kind of things do you talk to your daddy about?" Maria asked shyly.

Kyoko expression first turned sour and then a little nervous. "Well," she said at last, "I don't really have a dad, so I can't really help" she mumbled casually.

"I am so sorry. I had no idea. I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's totally okay." She flashed a  smile to prove her words

"Then," Maria said. "What about with your mother?"

This time, her expression turned even worse than before.

"Uh...is your...is your mommy...is she gone too?" Maria asked nervously upon seeing her reaction.

"No, of course not. She is around. She is just fine," she said with fake smile. "I know what you can say to your dad. You can tell him that you miss him. Then he'll fly back in a hot second."

"I don't know. What if something goes wrong and his plane crashes when he is on his way here?"

"Comeon now," she wrapped her hands around Maria's small ones. "There is no way that will happen. He's gonna make it here safe and sound and he'll be so happy to see you."

Maria hugged and thanked Kyoko before getting back into the limo.

Once she was inside, "Ms Mogami, if I know correctly, you left home to fulfill your dreams of being an actress. You told me you had your parent's permission as well as their blessings, but is that true?" The President asked with a frown.

Kyoko just turned her head down, so much that her chain touched the top of her chest, and said nothing. She knew there was no point in lying now because she was a terrible liar and she wouldn't be able to fool him anyway.

"If it isn't," the President went on, "I am afraid we are going to need your mother's approval for us to represent you. You are a minor after all. Those are the rules. Now, why don't you tell me what's really going on?"

Kyoko looked back up. The President was taken aback to see the sadness on her face. Her hazel eyes were almost watery. They were so deeply filled with pain, it was hard to believe that they belonged to just a sixteen-year-old girl. Those were the eyes of a person who had been through hell and back, who had had more than their fair share of suffering.

"If I don't tell you, are you going to kick me out of LME?" She spoke at last, her voice quivering. "She doesn't care where I am or what I am doing. I wouldn't even know how to get a hold of her to ask that. So that's it." She was desperate now, "that said, do you still need her? Can't we just find a way to get around it?"

After that, Takarada didn't have the heart to press her for more details. He sat back in the limo and drove home.

When he remembered that look in her eyes, he finally understood how Kyoko was able to perform so well earlier that day. The hurt she portrayed about a parent hating their own child, there was true authenticity present in it.

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When Kyoko stepped out of the elevator, she sat down on a stair and took out Corn from her pocket. She clutched it in her hands, closed her eyes tight shut and breathed, "I am okay. I am okay. I am gonna be okay..."

When she opened her eyes again, the tears that were threatening to show up, somehow vanished and never made it out. "Alright!" She smiled at Corn. You always make things better. Your color may be the blue of sadness but it still takes my sad feelings away.

"Ms Mogami," she heard someone mutter right behind her. She was so startled that she almost jumped. "Mr Swara, it's just you." She sighed with relief. "You scared me." She wasn't expecting to see anyone here this late. "You're heading out now?"

"Uh huh. So why are you sitting here on the stairwell by yourself?"

"Yeah. I was just-" she suddenly looked down and noticed that her hands were empty. A clattering sound came from below the railing, the sound of a tiny pebble hitting the ground for below. "No!" She screamed and flew down the stairs in pursuit of the little purplish blue rock.

Ren was passing through when something small fell on his head. He bent down and picked up the thing, which looked like a tiny purplish blue stone.

No sooner than he picked it up, Kyoko came down running with the wind. Since he gave her a minus ten the last time, he didn't expect her to talk to him but the moment she saw him, she asked him desperately, "did...did you...did you see a stone fall down here?" She looked like she was about to cry. "It's kind of a round stone, purplish blue color."

"It's yours?"

"Yeah, and it's very important to me," she cried and started looking around for it. "Oh no, what will I do if it's gone... I can't believe I was careless enough to drop it!" She sat down on the floor when she didn't find it and started crying. "I am sorry, Corn," she sobbed.

"Wait, Corn? Did you seriously name your pet rock?" Swara, who also just came down from the stairs, asked Kyoko when he saw her sobbing on the floor for a rock. He didn't expect her to be so sentimental.

"Sort of." She sniffed. Her voice still quivering. "Corn is the person who gave it to me. He was a boy I knew. It was a special present for me because I used to cry at everything. It mattered to him, maybe more than it does to me. He told me it would magically take my tears away." She started sobbing again. "It's the most special think I got and I go ahead and lose it, I am such an idiot."

Swara patted her shoulder, "I am so sorry, Ms Mogami. I really didn't mean to upset you."

Ren remembered that he had the stone. He was just so surprised to see Kyoko crying like that that he almost forgot he was carrying it in his fist.

He held it out and asked, "is this it?"

She clumped towards him, "it's not broken? Or chipped? Its totally fine!" She took it from him. "Thank you." Her hazel eyes crinkled and her soft lips upturned as she flashed him the purest and the most innocent smile he had ever seen.  It was as bright and vibrant as the sun, he could tell that it was a smile from deep within her soul. He couldn't help but stare at it as his cheeks turned red and an unexpected warmth rushed into him.

Even Swara thought, that's the first time I've seen her smile like that.

Kyoko bowed to Ren, "you have no idea how grateful I am."

"Wait," he said. "Question."

"Yeah?"

"I have to ask. Are you from Kyoto?"

"Huh?" How could he possibly know that?

"Is that wrong?"

"No. Infact you're actually right. But how?"

"I asked because you can only find those stones in Kyoto."

"What? I had no idea!" She said surprisingly as she once again examined Corn.

"Shouldn't that be common knowledge if you grew up there?" He asked with an apparent look.

Kyoko stood there, totally oblivious, feeling stupid.

"Oh and by the way, it's unlikely you'll see stones like that sold as souvenirs there."

She didn't know that either. Her face turned red as she felt even more stupid.

"Poor thing, you really are a gullible country girl, aren't you?" His voice had a hint of mock pity in it.

Her face turned sour.

"Better wise up, otherwise you're gonna get duked for real someday and you'll regret it big time," he smirked. "Or have you been through that already?"

"Hey, mind your own business!" She shouted angrily. This is getting really old, she thought. Is he gonna keep giving me crap every time we meet?

"Ah." He raised his index finger as if he remembered something. "Could it be he was the one who tricked you? And you know who I mean."

Sho's face popped into her mind and her anger maxed out.

"Is that why you want revenge on Sho Fuwa? Huh. If you get duked, you have nobody but yourself to blame for being so naive. Act like a doormat and people walk on you."

Sure, she answered silently. Rub it in, why don't you? I am just gonna keep quiet. Every conversation we have have always ends up badly.

She flashed a fake smile to suppress her anger. "Good talk." She walked over to Swara, "guess it's time for me to get changed and hop on home now. Good bye, Mr Swara. Have a good night."

"Thanks, you too." He replied and headed out.

"Lucky guess," Ren said. "So you were never duked by him or at least that's what you want to say." His face sincere, all of a sudden. The mocking tone gone now. "Even if someone happens to discover the truth, hide your feelings and deny it. Otherwise, people in this business will make up stories and you will be the one to suffer for it."

Kyoko couldn't hold her anger in anymore. He had the nerve to give her advice after mocking her so much. She covered her mouth, not trusting herself. She knew if she opened that, something horrible was going to come out and she'll end up losing points like last time.

"If you want to be successful in this industry, you have to figure it out for yourself first..."

If only he had shut up! The more he talked, the more infuriated she got.

I. HATE. This guy. So much! She managed to keep her mouth shut but her fist moved on its own as she held it out to his face and stretched out her middle finger. She watched him raise his eyebrows in shock. Before he could respond, she stormed away. Her face as a red as a tomato. That's it, she thought. I am done. I don't even wanna be within five feet of him.



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Yashiro knocked on the window of Ren's car for him to unlock the door and let him in. He knocked twice but Ren didn't listen. His eyes were open but he was dazed in a reverie, his mind somewhere else.

On the third knock, Ren finally woke up from his dream and unlocked the door.

"Is something wrong? You seem distracted."

"No, I'm not." Or maybe I am.

The image of the red faced Kyoko giving him the finger kept floating inside his mind. He was still a bit shocked.

She has definitely changed from before, he thought as he compared that image with that of the adorable little Kyoko, whom he had met years ago in a jungle in Kyoto. Then he remembered that pure smile which he got to see just for a few moments, it was exactly the same as before.

He blinked his green eyes which were covered with dark contacts and ran his fingers through his black dyed hair. She might have changed, but not as much as I have.