A/n I'm working on Charm, but am a little blocked. I have some ideas for other SB fics so I thought I would get this posted in an attempt to coax my muse into letting me finish Charm.

Ren had a plan, it was honestly such a perfect plan that he was unsure why he hadn't thought of it before. Who better to give him advice about how to pursue Kyoko than Kyoko herself.

"Mogami-san." he said when he saw her at LME. For once Yashiro wasn't here to make things awkward, and he was allowed to speak to her without fear of comments from his overly excitable manager.

"Hello, Tsuruga-san," she greeted him. He hoped that he wasn't imagining the tint of happiness that he heard in her voice, but previous interactions had shown him that nothing was what it seemed with Kyoko.

"If it isn't to much trouble, could you come over to my apartment, I wish to speak with you, and," here he allowed a somewhat sheepish look, "it is a personal matter, so I would feel better discussing it somewhere we wouldn't be overheard."

"Of course I can, Tsuruga-san," she answered immediately. For once she would be able to listen to his problems without a chicken suit, and perhaps even be able to help him in some way. "When would be a good time for you?"

"I have a photo shoot tonight, but that will be over at about eight. So anytime after that is perfectly acceptable."

"I have a LoveMe task that will run late tonight. I won't be done until nine."

"If you want I can pick you up," he offered. When she seemed to be about to refuse, he gave her a slightly saddened look. "It wouldn't be a problem, and you are doing me a favor, so I would feel far more at ease driving you than worrying about you coming over in the dark."

She seemed a bit resigned, probably thought he was channeling Cain, but in the end she agreed, and that was how they found themselves in his apartment at 9:15.

She had offered to make dinner, but he decided that they should order something, since she was here because he had asked her to be.

As they waited for the food to arrive, he somehow managed to convince her that it was acceptable for him to pay for her portion of the meal, and before she could give another argument on the subject, he distracted her with the simple task of setting the table.. Afterward, he turned on the television, settling on a re-run of an old sitcom. Less than twenty minutes later, the two of them we consuming the delivered food.

It was a pleasant dinner, and they talked about the roles they were playing as they ate. Finally, when the leftovers were put away, Ren began to speak. "I… Mogami-san, I would like to think that we are friends. Would you agree with that?"

Kyoko nodded blushing slightly. It gave Ren hope, and confidence that he was making the right choice.

"I don't have many friends, and you seemed the best to ask for advice. You see recently, I started to feel a deep affection for someone. I haven't said anything to her yet, but I want to."

"Why haven't you told her?" Kyoko asked, and Ren truly hoped that slight sadness that he detected in her tone was because she was upset that someone, she thought wasn't her, had caught his eye. He might have been imagining the sadness though, heaven knew that he was so far gone for her that any little thing he perceived would somehow be twisted to keep hold on a belief that she might care for him as he did for her.

"You see she got out of a bad relationship not too long ago, and I worry that announcing how I feel will cause her to… dislike me."

Kyoko nodded in understanding. She and this girl had something in common then. Not that she had Sho had ever been a couple, at least not to him, but she understood the getting out of a bad relationship bit.

"So what do you think that I should do? Do I wait or do I say something to her about my feelings?"

Kyoko set aside the feeling of disappointment, that some girl out there would soon be in a relationship with Ren, he was so busy already, and if he had a girlfriend, he wouldn't ever spend more time with her, but despite this, she sat up straight. He had helped her so much, it was the least she could do to offer him advice when he asked for it. "Maybe you should show her." She suggested quietly. "I understand how she must feel, and if I were her I don't think I would be receptive to a face-to-face confession." Then she realized who she was talking to. She almost back pedaled before realizing that Ren wouldn't be asking advice from her of all people if this girl was simply a fan that would be overjoyed that Ren had paid attention to her.

"How could I show her?" he asked.

"Well…" she trailed off. She closed her eyes, and thought. Corn! "You could give her something that is meaningful to you. You are a very private person, and you have the ability to buy expensive things, but if you gave her something that holds meaning for you, she would know that you are giving something far more important than a pricey trinket. Does that make sense?"

"That's an amazing idea," he said in a hushed whisper. "What should I say? I mean I don't want to risk making her uncomfortable."

"Maybe you should write a note?" she suggested. "It would give her some time to think about it, and judge the sincerity."

Ren seemed to light up, and if she wasn't mistaken, he was working on ideas at the moment. Kyoko had the unique feeling of a mixture of happiness, because she had helped him, and heartbreak, because until that moment, she hadn't known that sometime over the course of late night dinners, assistance with character creation, and roles they had played, that she had given her tattered, locked away heart, to the man that had fallen in love with someone else.