A/N: Welcome to the 5th installment in my HoMH series! If you have read all the oother parts, thank you! If not, i hope youll go back and read them so that the story makes sense.

I took a little break so i could get refreshed enough to write this properly and went on a family vacation to Disneyland. Now that im back ill do my very best to update at least once a week. Thank you for reading and i hope youll enjoy this story!

Chapter one here picks up during the epilogue of Picking up the Pieces. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Scheduling Secrets

Sho Fuwa was wandering around in a small shopping area. He had finally had a day off and needed to find somewhere quiet to write his music. The Darumaya proved to be too noisy between the day time cleaning and prep and the night time customers. He had expected to be able to write at LME but it was fairly difficult to get time alone for his work.

In the past Shoko had always let him use her place or he had had Akatoki pay for a hotel for him. But now that wasn't an option. So with his guitar case slung across his back and his disguise of a hat and sunglasses he had ventured to a less populated area in the hopes of finding peace and quiet.

He had not however, expected to find Ren Tsuruga in that small town. But even more shocking was finding him in a jewelry store looking at what appeared to be a ring. He took off his sunglasses.

What the hell? Sho wondered as he peered in through a side window. What's that pretty boy doing picking out a ring? He watched as Ren handed the ring back to the lady behind the counter and pulled something else out of his pocket. Sho stepped back trying to figure this out.

"Don't jump to conclusions. This really could be just a simple present. It doesn't necessarily mean anything." He tried to tell himself. But he knew the truth of what this probably meant. To confirm his suspicions he waited another ten minutes for Ren to exit the shop.

"Hey, Tsuruga-san!" Sho called out suddenly, startling the actor.

Ren spun and met Sho's eyes. "Fuwa, what're you doing here?" He asked.

Sho smirked. "The more important question is, why are you buying Kyoko a ring?"

Inside, Ren was panicking. He had intended to keep this a secret from everybody until after he proposed and now the one person he definitely didn't want to know, knew. "I'm pretty sure I can buy my girlfriend a ring if I want to." Ren replied forcing a calm voice.

"Are you going to propose to her?" Sho asked seriously. He knew he had no chance with her but he still didn't like the idea of Ren winning.

Ren sighed. There wasn't much point in trying to lie about it. "Yes, I am. But you can't say anything to her." He said firmly.

Sho shrugged. "As if I'd have a reason to do that. She'd probably go off into her magical fairyland about planning a wedding. I'd rather wait and hope you chicken out." Sho turned and began to walk away. "See ya, pretty boy." He called back with a wave.

Ren was relieved that Sho seemed uninterested in spoiling his surprise but then he thought of something and quickly walked after Sho. "Fuwa, wait."

Sho turned around looking annoyed. He had been trying to get away before his true emotions were displayed on his face. "What do you want now?"

"I need help getting in contact with Kyoko's mother."

Sho turned away. "Don't bother." He muttered. His hatred for the woman coming through in his voice. As much as Kyoko had annoyed him and he had wished to defeat her, he had always despised her mother. The woman who had treated Kyoko like nothing and made her cry countless times. Although, I suppose I'm not much better. He thought bitterly.

Ren grabbed Sho's shoulder. "I need to ask her for her blessing. We both know it would be important to Kyoko."

Sho was silent for a second before shrugging off Ren's hand. He glared at him. "Fine. I'll get the info from my mom." Sho pulled out his phone and found his home phone in his contacts. He listened as the phone rang, feeling awkward to have Ren listening.

After three rings his mom answered with the name of the inn. "Good morning, how may I help you?" She asked.

"Mom, it's me."

Ren had to admit he was a little curious about what these people were like. After all, they had raised Kyoko.

He watched as Sho scowled. "No, Mom. I already told you I'm not coming back home. I got work again." Sho hissed.

Ren took a few steps away to offer the younger man some privacy. He was curious but didn't want to intrude on Sho's private life. After a couple of minutes, Sho hung up. "Hey, I got the info."

Ren opened the notes on his phone and copied down what Sho told him. As soon as he had finished, Sho turned and started to walk away again. "Fuwa," Ren called, "Thanks."

Sho responded with a wave over his shoulder.

After Sho left, Ren returned to his car. Once seated inside, he dialed the number for Saena's office. The phone rang twice before it was answered by a secretary.

"Good morning," Ren greeted her. "I needed to schedule an appointment with Saena Mogami-san." He explained.

He could hear the sound of a keyboard clicking. "She has an opening this evening for six thirty. Will that work for you?" the secretary asked.

"Yes, that should be fine." He responded, worried about the fact that he would have to try to hide this from Kyoko too.

"Perfect, and may I have your name and the reason for your appointment?"

"Ren Tsuruga, " he replied and heard a small gasp from the young lady, "And I just have an important personal matter to discuss with her."

When Ren arrived home he found Kyoko sitting on the couch watching television. She looked up when he entered and greeted him with a smile that nearly melted his heart. "Welcome home!" she said cheerfully.

He smiled in return as he sat down on the couch next to her. "How was your morning?" he asked.

"It was nice. I listened to what you said, I took a bath and I didn't clean." She told him proudly.

Ren nodded, "And did you decide where you'd like to eat lunch?"

Kyoko scrunched up her face in thought and Ren couldn't help but smile at how cute she looked. "What about getting hamburger steaks?" she asked, her face colored slightly pink.

Ren chuckled, "That sounds good." He told her happily. To be honest, it would've taken a lot to bring Ren down from the cloud he was currently on. Knowing that he was mere days away from proposing made him feel excited in a way he hadn't felt in quite some time.

The two got ready and soon headed to a nearby diner to eat. After ordering their food, Kyoko took a sip of her iced tea before speaking to Ren. "I forgot to ask you, how was work this morning?"

Ren nearly choked on his water at her sudden question. "Oh," he began once he had stopped coughing. "It was fine. Just usual work." He lied.

Kyoko nodded, but looked uncertain. "It's strange for you to be suddenly called in on a day off, isn't it?" she asked.

Ren could feel himself getting nervous. He'd managed to keep the secret about being Corn for over a year and yet this secret could be out in a matter of hours. As he opened his mouth to answer, he was saved by the arrival of their lunch.

As soon as the waitress left, Kyoko dug into her meal. Ren took advantage of her silence to change the subject. "Are you excited for the read through in next week?" he asked calmly.

At the mention of their new drama, her eyes lit up. She nodded excitedly. "I can't wait to see the full script." She said.

"They've done a good job of keeping most of the details quiet. A lot of people are curious since its our first time acting together like this."

Kyoko felt her stomach flip, she wasn't sure if it was nerves or excitement. She paused her eating and Ren watched her with concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked, reaching out to touch her hand.

She gave an over enthusiastic smile. "What? No, nothing. I was just thinking that's all." She lied.

He feigned a hurt expression. "And I thought you said no more secrets." He muttered before taking a bite of his own lunch.

Kyoko stared down at her plate. "I'm just nervous."

Ren's eyes widened. "About acting with me? But we've acted together before."

She shook her head. "Not like this. Now I get to play your love interest. What if I don't do a good enough job and everybody hates it?"

He gave a small smile that she didn't see before leaning over the table and pressing a warm kiss to her forehead. "Please don't worry. You are always amazing. I've thought that since the first time I heard you read lines." He said as he moved back.

Kyoko blushed. "You mean during Dark Moon?"

He shook his head. "No, when you were my manager, and you read lines with me. I was very impressed by your talent. And you have never done any less with your acting."

She blushed again and stared down at her food. She muttered a soft thank you before returning to eating.

A few moments later, just as Ren was starting to worry over how he would get away to meet Kyoko's mom, his girlfriend's phone buzzed.

Kyoko picked up her phone and saw that she had a message. "It's from Maria." She told Ren before opening it. She read the message before speaking again. "She's asking if I can come over to help her get ready for a party she's attending tonight."

Ren silently thanked the little girl for the much needed invitation. He quickly spoke, trying to encourage the uncertain Kyoko. "That sounds like fun."

Kyoko tilted her head to the side as she thought. "But you were looking forward to spending the day together."

Ren shook his head. "It's fine. Plus it's good for Maria to have another girl to spend time with. And besides, I think she only approves of us dating as long as she still gets to spend time with you." He teased.

Kyoko laughed. "I guess you're right." She quickly texted Maria a response before finishing her meal.

Later that afternoon after Ren had dropped Kyoko off at the President's home, he headed to the law offices Saena worked in. He entered through the main door and took the elevator up to the fifth floor. When he entered the office, Ren greeted the secretary and then sat down to wait.

He could feel himself getting anxious. Kyoko had told him some things about her mom but he knew she had left out things. Ren had never felt the need to press her to reveal anything more than she felt comfortable sharing. By the time that a nearby door opened, his hands were starting to sweat.

"Tsuruga-san?" came a solemn voice.

Ren looked up and saw a serious looking woman who in all honesty didn't resemble Kyoko. But when he looked longer he could see traces of characters Kyoko had played. He stood quickly and approached Saena.

"Mogami-san, thank you for meeting with me." He said with a bow.

Saena gave a polite bow in return before leading him into her office. She gestured to a seat opposite her office chair. "Please, sit." She said before taking her own seat.

Ren sat and then looked at Saena. Her lips were pursed and her eyebrows furrowed. "Now, what was it you wanted to see me about?" she asked.

Swallowing his nerves, Ren gave a small smile. "I don't know if you know who I am-"

Saena held up a hand, "I do. You are currently dating my daughter, Kyoko."

Ren nodded. "Um, yes. I am."

She stared at him hard as if trying to read his thoughts.

He swallowed hard. "I'm here to ask for your blessing. I want to ask Kyoko to marry me."