Chapter One: The Dreaded Day
There were two days in the entire year that Kyoko dreaded: Valentine's Day and White Day. The days of romantic love. Still, on February 14th, she found herself carrying a bag of homemade chocolates to LME for the people she was grateful to this year. And, of course, the traditional cooler of wine jelly. Ren would like it, she was sure. Perhaps Valentine's Day wouldn't be so bad this year. Sho was in tour and in Osaka with Mimori, so he couldn't ruin anything for her this year. Not that her brother mattered.
The revelation that Sho was related to Kyoko had gone over rather well in the media. Even the fans were pleased by the connection, after the shock of his true personality had worn off. Girls had stopped sending angry messages to LME for her that went on about how she was stringing 'their Sho' along. Of course, she still got messages like that from Ren's fans. She laughed them off, but made sure to never tell Ren about some of the things his fans said.
Her first stop was the LoveMe room to drop off her things. Kanae was there already, fixing her hair over her pink coveralls. Kyoko shrieked with glee and flung herself at her friend. Kanae expertly dodged the glomp.
"Kyoko, be more careful," sighed Kanae. "This is an actress's body. I can't act with bruises."
"Sorry," said Kyoko. "I'm just so happy to see you. Here, I got you a photo album."
"Thanks Kyoko," said Kanae, slipping the package into her purse. "I got you something too. A bracelet."
"Thank you so much!" said Kyoko. "This is more than I ever expected."
"You've been a great friend to me," shrugged Kanae. "I want to show my appreciation."
"That's so like you Miss Sigh," said Kyoko. "I'll treasure it."
"So what have you gotten for Tsuruga?" asked Kanae.
"Wine jelly again," said Kyoko happily, trying on her new bracelet. "He seemed to like it last year. And it's just the right serving size for him."
"Still worried about his eating habits then?"
"I don't think I'll ever not be concerned. As you say, an actor needs to take care of his body."
Kanae sighed. "One day, you will figure out what everyone else already knows. And then you'll have all the leverage in the world to get him to eat properly."
"Eh?"
"Never mind. What's our LoveMe task for today?"
"Sorting out in-house mail and getting it to the right mailboxes."
Kanae groaned. "Of course. It's Valentine's Day. At least we don't have to read all the fanmail. Can you imagine all the panties Tsuruga's going to get?"
"Don't remind me," said Kyoko darkly. She shook out the nearest mail bag with a little more force than necessary. "He'll probably have Yashiro and me go through his mail for him."
"He would not," snorted Kanae. "Well, maybe Yashiro. Poor man."
"Yashiro does work really hard to keep Ren on track," said Kyoko. "He's a super manager."
"One day, we'll have our own managers," vowed Kanae. "We'll be great actresses and never have to sort other people's mail."
"Or manage impossible personalities," added Kyoko.
"Like who?" asked Kanae.
"Ruriko was hard to deal with," said Kyoko, "and Kuu did his best to make me miserable. Ren tried really hard to make me quit. And the girls on 'Box R' were rough until I proved myself."
"But you're in Ruriko's good books now," said Kanae. "Kuu considers you a daughter. Chiori is your friend, though I don't know how that happened. And Tsuruga, well, you're someone to him."
"You keep telling me that."
"Because it's true, and you're dense and need to be reminded."
"Isn't that the truth," said Chiori as she set down her bag on Kanae's other side. "It's endearing though."
"Hi Chiori," said Kyoko brightly. "Did you see the costume designs for the party episode in a few weeks?"
"You got to see those?" said Chiori. "Lucky. I had to do a bunch of retakes yesterday because one of the extras kept messing up."
"I hate it when that happens," sympathized Kanae.
"Not everyone can be good on the first take," said Kyoko practically. "Besides, I heard the director decide that stuttering was part of the character."
"He asked me out after," said Chiori. "I told him no. I have no interest in dating at this time."
"Shush, the President might hear you," said Kyoko. "And I got you something as a token of friendship. Here."
"Thank you," said Chiori, tucking her package into her bag. "I'll open it later. I did get you something, though. Pink nail polish."
"That'll be nice for interviews," said Kanae. "It goes with your sweetness."
"Speaking of interviews, I have a radio one tomorrow," said Kyoko.
"I hope that goes better than your Japan Today interview did," said Chiori.
"So do I," said Kyoko, "since the theme of the interview is apparently sibling love."
"Oh yuck," said Kanae.
"Shush, the President might hear you," said Chiori. The three girls laughed.
"This mail won't sort itself," said Kyoko. "Let's get to it!"
The three girls spilled the remaining four bags of mail onto the table. Kanae and Chiori chatted about their projects, and the irritation of costars who couldn't take a hint. Kyoko listened, but didn't have much to contribute; in her experience, costars were friendly in general, and occasionally invited her to lunch. When she mentioned this, Chiori stared at her and Kanae lifted her eyes to the heavens and sighed.
"Kyoko, are most of these costars men or women?" asked Kanae.
"It's mostly men, I guess?" said Kyoko. "I don't really pay attention to that sort of thing."
"That much is obvious," said Kanae. "They're asking you out because they like you. And want to date you."
"Eh?" said Kyoko. "I'm sure that they're just being friendly."
"Kyoko," said Chiori, "they're asking you out. Even some of the women who invite you to lunch are asking you out."
"Don't confuse her," chided Kanae. "Kyoko, the point is, the men who ask you out are looking for a date with you. Yes, they're being friendly, but it's to see if they have a chance with you."
"Oh," said Kyoko. She looked down. "I didn't realize. Why would they be interested in a boring girl with no sex appeal like me?"
"Did Sho say that to you?" asked Kanae.
"Yeeees," said Kyoko.
"Then you should realize it's bullshit," said Kanae. "We talked about this, remember?"
"Right," said Kyoko. "Just, no one ever asked me out in middle school. And then Sho said those things, and I swore off love…"
"Well, Kijima asked you out," Kanae reminded her, "and he likes beautiful women. That Ishibashi asks you out after every show. And you're someone to Tsuruga."
"In conclusion, forget whatever your idiot brother told you," said Chiori. She handed Kyoko a pair of lurid pink bags full of mail. "Take these up to the acting department."
"Can you handle the rest of the mail?" asked Kyoko.
"Of course we can," said Chiori. "Go."
Kyoko took the bags and left the LoveMe room, heading to the back elevators. She went up three floors to the acting department, and handed the bags over to the secretary there. The secretary paled and then began sorting through the mail and putting it into mailboxes labelled with different actor's names. As Kyoko turned to leave, Ren and Yashiro walked into the office. Ren's face lit up.
"Hello Kyoko," said Ren. "Did they finally move you to acting?"
"No," said Kyoko. "I'm just delivering the mail. Are you here for your offers?"
"I am," said Ren. "It just occurred to me, we haven't had dinner together lately. Are you free tomorrow night?"
"I am after eight," said Kyoko. "Should I come over then?"
"Of course," said Ren. "We can go grocery shopping for dinner ingredients. I'd like to talk over my offers with you."
"I would like that," said Kyoko, smiling. "I should go though, I have to be at a shoot in half an hour."
"Good luck," said Ren. "I'll see you tomorrow night."