Send in the Man

The wait in the entrance hall was brief, with each girl seemingly excited for the arrival of their bachelor. Kyoko stood nervously, twisting her thumbs while Kanae sighed, clearly bored as Chiori conversed with Hotaru and the rest of the girls they had spent the day with yesterday. The sound of a bell on the staircase told her it was time. As Makoto signaled with her hands for the switching on of the cameras, Kyoko's heart clenched. She was terrified.

"Well Ladies." Makoto called in a clear and powerful voice as the cameras began to roll.

"Allow me to introduce you to our bachelor!" Kyoko raised her head in time to see a well-dressed figure descending the stairs and her breath caught. Kanae's head shot up at her best friends gasp and Chiori's jaw dropped.

"I'm going to kill the president ." Kanae exclaimed loud enough for Kyoko, Chiori and Hotaru to hear. The latter who looked shocked at her words as Kuon Hizuri descended the stairs, some of the girls gushed, some smiled politely, while Oka and Yuka both squealed with delight. Kanae turned to look at Kyoko who was looking at the floor now refusing to look up. Chiori who had also instantly thought of Kyoko's feelings looked at her then meeting Kanae's eyes shared a worried expression while the now completely and utterly confused Hotaru stepped past Chiori to place her arms around the girl who looked ready to collapse.

"Are you OK, Kyoko-chan?" she asked as Kyoko just nodded and Hotaru heard Kanae sigh sadly. She would have to ask these girls what the hell was going on here? She had never seen such a reaction to Japan's number one actor, bachelor and hell, sex god! And didn't they work for LME too? Maybe there were bad feelings between them and their senior? She could feel Kyoko starting to tremble slightly and was shocked to see her eyes sparkling. Was she about to cry? God, she needed to get to the bottom of this and fast. As soon as Kuon started speaking Kyoko's head shot up, nearly butting Hotaru, who managed to avoid the impact by side stepping towards Kanae who again was watching Kyoko's face.

"Hello Ladies, as Makoto-san has kindly pointed out Kuon Hizuri and I will be your...host, I suppose would be the best word for this venture." Kyoko blanched. She could feel the radiance of his gentleman smile from here. Like waves of ice, it was playing across the room, his aura dark and menacing.

"How bad?" Kanae asked quietly. Hotaru looked between them. How bad was what? What the hell is going on here?

"It's bad, I've not seen him this angry in a while." Kyoko whispered.

"Hang on a sec! Who is angry? What's going on?" Hotaru had given up at this point. She was annoyed and confused. These people were making no sense at all to her.

"Kuon-san is angry." Kyoko answered never taking her eyes off Kuon who was now telling them what a pleasure it was to be here with them. With every word his smile seemed to be growing in brilliance, making Kyoko step back at the malice it contained. Kanae pulled Hotaru towards her.

"Kyoko is a little...different I suppose would be the best word. She's sensitive to feelings and emotions. She could tell with Ren from the beginning. Even when he became Kuon, they have been friends for quite awhile now so she reads his moods well. Trust me, that's no real smile on his face. If he was truly smiling, the bimboes in this room would have passed out by now." she shot a look at Oka as she said this. Today her clothes seemed to scream hussy rather than classy, the skin tight tiger print mini dress was in Kanae's thoughts. That was not even something she would let the poor dog she dragged around with her sleep on, never mind wear. Her makeup looked like it had been applied with a cement shovel and the fact she was trying to stand in the ridiculous nine inch heels she was wearing was to Kanae's mind cringe worthy.

"Now my beautiful ladies, if you would be so kind as to line up so you can each individually introduce yourself to Kuon-san, we will begin." Hotaru walked with Kyoko and Kanae into line.

There seemed to be a tussle for who was going to introduce themselves to Kuon first. Hotaru watched as Kuon's smile grew even brighter. If Kanae would never have told her she would have thought this was a friendly warm smile. But like so many things which we never notice until the obvious has been pointed out, now that she had seen it, she was seeing Kuon in a whole new light. The three of them joined the end of the line with Kyoko standing right at the end next to Kanae, twisting her hands around a little as she looked anywhere but at the man making his way down the row of women.

He shook each hand and kissed each cheek, ever the true gentleman. Hotaru was amazed by the simple fact of knowing that Kuon was indeed not as happy as he seemed. He gave Hotaru a new way of looking at the way he interacted with the women. With someone such as Oka, his smile became brighter which did in fact make the girl swoon. Two of her ever present footmen running forwards with a chair sat the young lady down and began fanning her. Ootomo Honoka and Yumi Hana he seemed to tone down his smile and his face softened. A quick glance at Kyoko told her that whatever she was feeling had subsided a little, but when Yoshida Akio pinched Kuon's bum as he walked away she saw Kyoko flinch as Kuon laughed a little his smile growing larger.

When he came to Momose and Oohara the first of the friends Kyoko had introduced her to, again a calm seemed to settle upon Kyoko as the two pretty women both exchanged happy greetings with him. Moving along through the two Box-R members, he noticed Chiori for the first time and Hotaru saw the look of confusion in his eyes as he scanned Kanae who was standing next to her then looking past them both and Hotaru to Kyoko at the end of the line. It could not have been more obvious to her in that second what all the sighing and frustration had been about regarding Kuon and Kyoko. Even though he held on to his mask of indifference very well while greeting the two girls and herself, it was strikingly obvious Kuon loved the quiet woman standing next to her.

"Hello Kyoko-chan." Kuon said as he shook her hand and kissed her cheek the same as he had all the other girls. But his smile was different, it was warm and honest and his eyes showed true passion. Hotaru already knew who had won this game of love, but the way Kyoko reacted surprised her. Couldn't the girl see how happy he was when she was there? She must have sensed his anger had dissipated immediately as soon as he had seen she was here? Hotaru looked at Kanae who mouthed 'Tell you later.' so she would just have to wait she supposed.

Kuon seemed a little reluctant to move too far away from the side of the line. He seemed so basically comfortable. As close to Kyoko as possible, he started addressing them en masse again.

"Well we have said our hellos and now I think its time for some fun. You have half an hour to go and get yourself ready and then we are going to the beach." this announcement was met by enthusiasm, and Hotaru found herself being dragged along by Kanae and Chiori who had each grabbed Kyoko and herself. They were back in their room and pushing Kyoko into the changing room before she had even spoken a word.

"Kyoko, did you know?" Kanae was asking. As Kyoko sat on the bench in the middle of the room she shook her head.

"No, he never said anything to me." she said quietly and Kanae stood back up, running her hand through her shimmering black hair that fell like waves as she cursed.

"MO! I bet this is the president's idea of fun! MO! why couldn't he leave well enough alone." she started pacing as Chiori who had disappeared, reappeared with a glass of water for Kyoko. Handing it to her she sat down beside her.

"Well maybe this is for the best. You know, maybe you will finally be able to tell him how you feel." Kyoko looked at Chiori like she had just sprouted horns or something. The look of horror actually, simply put, pure terror in her eyes was amazing to Hotaru. Well at least she wasn't going to be boring she could see even if Kuon had already picked his winner. A tap on the door brought them all round as Jelly entered.

"Here we go ladies! I've picked out your swimwear. Hikari-san sweetie I picked you out something too, hun." she handed each girl a bikini. They were each completely individual pieces and from what she could see would fit each girl perfectly.

"Thank you..." she didn't even know this woman's name and here she was handing her a swim suit

"Just call me Jelly or some people know me as Ten, but in the industry I'm Known as 'The Witch.'" Of course Hotaru had heard of The Witch, the legendary makeup artist of LME. For years rival companies had tried to snag this woman and now seeing her in real life so short she was barely standing to her shoulders, Hotaru had to smile.

"Well thank you, Jelly-san." and she turned to change into the costume Jelly had given her.

"Kyoko sweetiem you ok?" Jelly asked, looking at the young actress who was still sitting on the bench, unmoving. Kanae had placed her bikini down next to her yet the young actress was still and silent. After a few moments she took a deep breath then sat up straight with a large smile on her face.

"I'm fine, Jelly-san." and with that she too turned to change into the bikini Jelly had given her.

Lory was watching the TV like a hawk. As soon as Kuon had arrived at the top of those sweeping stairs, his heart had fluttered. Controlling his personal, remote control camera in the entrance hall he sought out his Love Me ladies.

"There you all are." he chuckled, zooming in to get a better look at them all. He saw the shock register on all of their faces as Kuon descended the stairs, but there was only one face he watched so intently: Kyoko's. Her eyes looked happy, yet terrified in the same moment as she looked away, unable to face the man who was now addressing the women before him. He watched and he waited, registering each emotion that seemed to pass the young woman's face. When he watched Kuon realise that two of the Love Me girls were present as competitors Lory had seen the hungry almost desperate look in his eyes as he had scanned for Kyoko. He had watched Kyoko's eyes as she shook his hand and said hello to him and Lory knew it then. Kyoko was in love and she knew it!

When Kanae and Chiori had dragged Kyoko away, out and up the stairs with their new roommate in tow Lory noticed. He followed their progress, eagerly hoping they would talk somewhere he would be able to listen in, but no such luck as Kanae dragged them all into the dressing room. The one place he couldn't go. Blast that girl and her thinking about the cameras, but he had seen it. He had definitely seen it that moment when their hands touched and their eyes met along with a look that said 'I want to be yours forever' passed between them. How could they both be so blind? Had Kyoko been running away so long now that she finally realised her own feelings? Was she simply afraid to ask or still unable to see this due to her own low self esteem? How could Kuon not see it? He had loved the girl for two years! How could he not see the new look in her eyes? The way she smiled at him? The pretty blush that rose when he had kissed her cheek? Had he been patient for so long with this girl that now when he was actually seeing her want for him in return, he could not see what it meant? God, these two would be the death of him Lory decided, But hopefully with his new plan in place all of that was about to change he would make them see.

It was a short walk to the beach, but Kuon was already wishing he had asked for transport. From the moaning and groaning of some of the women who were spread around him, he almost felt like the pied piper playing a tune for the rats to follow him out of town. But these ladies were not rats that was for sure, Lory had certainly picked the prize of the pickings. They all were beautiful, elegant and successful young women. Even with a twin on each arm, the Kazue twins seemed very touchy feely, a bit too much so for his liking. He was still watching for her, trying to spot her in the multitude of female flesh, the one woman amongst them all who made him feel complete. It wasn't hard to spot Kanae in the crowd, she was walking with the dancer Hikari Hotaru he remembered as he caught sight of Chiori talking to them both too. And then he saw her. She was walking just behind them having what seemed to be a very animated conversation with Ootomo Honoka. He wondered what they could be talking about when another moan reached his ears from his right as he turned his head again to stop the hands trying to reach for his face on both sides.

Kuon sighed internally, he truly didn't wish to turn that way, he could almost feel the eyes of that woman burning into his back as she moaned again. He decided to ignore it a little longer as he planted a picture in his head of how beautiful Kyoko looked in that red sundress: so elegant with the rose hair piece drawing out the beautiful colour of her eyes as they danced happily. She must be wearing a bikini underneath. He wondered if it would be strapless? How much skin would she be showing, he quickly pushed the thought of it from his head, otherwise he was going to end up with an embarrassing problem which he did not think would look good on live TV for a start. Again came a groan from behind him on his right. There was no way he could ignore it as he turned to face the unhappy woman.

"Are you OK, Nori-san?" he asked choosing to call Oka by her family name. He had to be careful with this one he knew, since her father ran Atol agency and Kuon had a few contracts with them at the moment so he must play wisely and try to keep on her good side and hope she would leave by choice. He had no doubt this spoilt little Daddy's girl would be against telling daddykins he had wronged her somehow. And what the hell was she wearing? She looked hideous at the meeting ceremony and he thought it couldn't get any worse, but now this! This was something he wished he could scrub clean from his memory, he could have gone his whole life without seeing it. Yes, a few of the women were wearing skimpy clothing. The twins, for instance were both in string bikinis, they really left nothing to the imagination. But honestly, they looked tame in comparison to what she wore. They both wore see-through beach dresses over their suits, but Oka? Well Oka's bikini hardly covered her nipples, the piece that was supposed to cover ...erm other areas was no bigger than a carnival flag, one of those they strung by the hundreds. She wore no beach dress just a sarong which Kuon thought may actually be a scarf as it was too short to cover anything. Oddly enough, she still wore the nine inch heels so she could hardly walk in to walk to the beach. If Kuon would have had to find something good to say, honestly, he would have been hard pressed to do so. Or maybe just the fact the bikini was lime green and not animal print could count?

"How much further, Kuon?" she asked, his name dripping from her lips in what she thought was a sexy, husky voice. Kuon wanted to take off for the hills at that point, but he plastered on his gentlemen's smile and replied calmly

"It is about another five minutes walk Nori-san, so please don't worry we will be there shortly." she moaned again saying how she thought she would be unable to make it that far, but when he commented he had better call Makoto to have someone come pick her up and maybe it was better that she rest at the mansion if she was tired she suddenly changed her tune a little.

"Really? You must be joking?" Ootomo Honoka was striding along beside Kyoko. She had picked her out at the start of the walk and asked if she wouldn't mind walking with her. Of course Kyoko would never object but now Kyoko herself was gobsmacked at where their conversation had turned.

"I'm so honoured to think you based Natsu on me, I can hardly believe it! I've been a Box-R fan for so long I've even heard they may be considering a season 3." Kyoko nodded happily.

"Oh they're in negotiations now about it, but i'm not sure how it would work for Natsu's character this time as she has just graduated. I'm not even sure if I would be required. With Chitose gone from the school and moving on to the story of her life outside of school, it would not be easy for the same type of control and subservient relations that Natsu likes to use to control her victims." Honoka nodded eagerly.

"But I honestly don't think they could find another person like Natsu to act against her. You and your girls were simply wonderful. The way you act together it makes it feel and seem real, you're the bully everyone loves to hate and in some weird way admire. I can't believe you're telling me you modeled her movement style after me and I feel touched." Kyoko laughed and smiled at the older woman. At 24 she was at the height of her career and was even said to have been offered jobs in New York and in addition to other work in the fashion industry while there, which was every models dream after all.

"We have actually met before." Kyoko said slowly and Honoka looked confused,

"We have? I'm sorry, Mogami-san I never realised." Kyoko smiled at her.

"It's fine, you were not actually aware it was me as I was in costume at the time and please call me Kyoko." Honoka smiled

"Then you must call me Honoka, and you must explain to me this mystery costume of yours." Kyoko blushed and Honoka grabbed her arm, linking it with her own.

"Come on Kyoko-chan, spill the beans." her laugh was musical and Kyoko couldn't help but smile as she looked at the smiling model beside her.

"My first ever TV role through LME was as a talk show mascot." Honoka looked thoughtful for a moment, then it seemed to hit her as she stared incredulously at Kyoko,

"You can't be!...You're BO?" she half screamed as Kyoko nodded, smiling

"I can't believe it, I love Bo! He was the main reason I wanted to go on Bridge Rock in the first place! You never failed to make me laugh, do you still do Bo?" Kyoko shook her head a little sadly.

"No. When I got my first lead part I had to drop the show. Sadly,it wouldn't have worked with my schedule, though I'm still at the top of their emergency contacts list." Honoka laughed and they walked together in silence for a while before the 25 women and their one man stopped.

"Wonder what's wrong?" Kyoko said as Honoka being almost a head and a half taller than Kyoko scowled

"It seems Little Miss Prissy Bum has decided that it wasn't sensible after all to try walking a beach path in nine inch stilettos." she half whispered back.

"And God, what is she wearing?" Kyoko looked at Honoka, who, like herself, was wearing a flowing turquoise beach dress. Though hers was strapless and flowed almost to the floor it was a beautiful piece.

Kyoko maneuvered slightly with Honoka's help and looked between the milling ladies to the moaning form of Oka, Kyoko felt sick, did she have no self respect? She watched as Kuon knelt down before her. Taking one of her feet in his hand, he was looking at the back of the straps on Oka's extremely unsuitable footwear. Excusing herself from Honoka for a moment she moved forwards pulling a small medical box from her beach bag she approached the two of them, all eyes on her.

"Hizuri-sama." Kuon knew her voice and instantly stood.

"Yes, Kyoko-chan?" they had agreed to call each other by their first names a while ago so it hurt a little that she had reverted back to his surname for a moment. It felt like 'Tsuruga-san' all over again. She handed the medical box to Kuon, and he smiled at her.

"Thank you Kyoko, you always have been a very prepared person." she blushed prettily and she could not mistake the growls from some of the women around as Kyoko reached back into the bag again and pulled out a pair of flip flops she had brought with her just in case as she didn't want to ruin her ribbon sandals and offered them to Oka while Kuon tended her feet.

"These may be a little more comfortable for the walk." Kyoko said trying to be friendly to the woman, who scowled at her and stuck her nose up at the flip flops.

"I only wear named brands, not useless cheap tat." It was instantaneous as if she had summoned them Chiori and Kanae were there both with the expression of boredom on their faces as they looked at the woman before them with disgust.

"Well, unless you can magically pull some more appropriate shoes from thin air, and the fact that you wore such inappropriate footwear in the first place, it would be polite to at least show some kindness to Kyoko. Need I remind you that if she had not brought a medicine kit, you would still be in pain. You should also think about the rest of us, who do not wish to stand around here all day either." Kanae was taller than Oka. Not only that, she was beautiful and even more so when she was angry and no one spoke to her best friend like that.

"Kuon, maybe you would be so kind." Chiori didn't give Oka a choice, taking the flip flops from Kyoko's hands, she passed them instantly to Kuon. Seeing instantly through Oka's plan with her pathetic idea for footwear, he slipped the flip flops on her feet and smiled at her in a way that said she was unable to refuse.

"Thank you, ladies. I'm sure Nori-san will be a lot more comfortable now, and thank you for being so well prepared Kyoko-chan." he handed her back her medicine kit and mumbling a thanks for his compliment she was gone as were Kanae and Chiori, instantly melding back into their places they had appeared from like ghosts. Kuon's heart sank a little as he had hoped Kyoko may have walked with him a little. He would just have to try and speak with her later he decided as they set off once more. Oka in her new footwear and the twins yet again swinging on his arm and occasionally though he tried to ignore it, they were feeling other parts of his anatomy which was rather unsettling.

"You got the kitchen sink in there too?" Honoka said smiling as Kyoko's blush deepened, she grabbed Kyoko's arm again, linking them as they had been before their brief pit stop.

"So you like him, huh?" Kyoko stumbled at her words but the strong model steadied her and grinned wolfishly at Kyoko.

"And he calls you Kyoko-chan, yet the prissy bum Nori-san? I wonder why that is?" Kyoko's heart was racing as she tried to stammer out her words.

"It's not like that really...Me and Tsuruga-san...No Hizuri-san... he's my senpai. He helped me throughout my first two years in the entertainment industry. That's the only reason why and I also know his parents, so please don't worry. I won't be standing in anybody's way and I probably will be gone by next Thursday." Honoka looked again at the woman beside her, and her heart bled for her. She had been in this job long enough to have seen models like her. Those with bad experiences, the ones who had lost confidence in themselves in the face of what the world deemed to be the people with happy experiences and who were better looking.

"I wasn't worried, Kyoko-chan." she said seriously and Kyoko started again.

"Of course you wouldn't be. There would be no need, you're so tall and beautiful. But not only that you're friendly and kind with a beautiful laugh, Kuon would be silly not to like you." the smile Kyoko gave her held such truthful, honest naivete, her heart wanted to hold her and hide this young beautiful creature from the world. It was as if she was inside a cocoon that had yet to erupt into a butterfly.

"I didn't mean it like that Kyoko. Kuon is not the man for me and we both know this so next Thursday I will be stepping down and take myself out of the competition." Kyoko was gobsmacked. She stopped and Honoka stopped with her as the other women passed by them continuing along the path the camera crews luckily had moved with them, concentrating on the conversations between Kuon and the other women.

"But..." Kyoko couldn't find anything to say to that statement. What was she supposed to say?

"No buts, Kyoko. I have known Ren and Kuon now for years and we could have started something up at any point yet both of us know there is no point. It would never work between us and besides how could I be with a man more beautiful than myself?" Kyoko caught the joking air in her tone and smiled. She couldn't help but realise how much more mature five years made Honoka and as they started walking, Honoka spoke again.

"You know they say everything on this show is a test in some respects, like this walk I know for a fact Kuon likes to go for walks when the set is late or if the preparations are running over. People like you who are prepared for every eventuality are the type of people he would gravitate towards as he knows he would always be able to depend on you whereas people like Miss prissy bum think more of themselves." Kyouko let a small smile appear as Honoka continued, "We all have our strengths and weaknesses Kyoko-chan, we just have to look inside ourselves and bring the strengths to life in a way so that our weaknesses are no more." they walked along in silence the sound of the crashing waves getting closer and closer as they finally spied the beach and the sea.

"I do like him, Honoka-san, but just because I like him does not mean he would ever reciprocate my feelings." Honoka smiled at her,

"Then you will just have to make him, my dear." and she released Kyoko's arm, racing down the sand dunes with a whoop. Kyoko stood shocked for a moment but when Honoka turned to her she followed laughing all the way, as Kuon watched on his heart soaring.