A/N: There wasn't a good place to cut this without leaving one chapter really short, so instead here is a really long chapter.


Chapter 2

Kyoko had all but put the letter from her mind a couple of days later. She was busy, after all, with Box R shooting, school, and her obligations as Setsu Heel.

But it all came flooding back with the force of a tsunami when she walked into Sawara-san's office to pick up some forms she needed to sign and saw a tall, bleached-blond figure waiting for her: Shotaro.

"Ah, there she is, Fuwa-kun," Sawara-san said, rising from his desk. Shotaro looked around, spotted Kyoko's blindingly pink uniform and stood.

Kyoko turned on her heel and left the room. Her grudges were stirring one by one, simmering to the surface. No, no, no. She'd been doing so well lately! How dare he show up at L.M.E.? This was supposed to be her safe haven!

Another thought made her wobble with nervousness. She didn't know Tsuruga-san's full schedule today; what if her senpai and the jerk should meet up? She gulped, trembling at the thought.

"Kyoko, wait!"

Kyoko cursed, her finger pressing the elevator button with increasing fury as Shotaro ate up the distance between them on long legs.

"What do you what?" she grumbled, still not looking at him.

"Well, that's a fine way to greet an old friend," he drawled, putting a hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away, glaring at him, satisfied to see him take a step back, looking startled.

"You," she said carefully, "are not my friend. You don't show up at my agency just to talk. What. Do. You. Want?"

Shotaro went very still, his usual smirk fading from his face, and for a moment Kyoko was drawn back to that moment in the tea garden at Fuwa Ryokan.

"Kyoko, will you come with me to Tokyo?"

"Will you come with me to Kyoto?" he muttered, hands stuffed in his pockets.

"You've got to be jok—"

Shotaro looked up at her and the words stopped in her throat. The grief on his face was so naked it was almost painful. Kyoko wondered when was the last time she'd seen him express an honest emotion like that: everything she'd seen from him lately had been sulkiness, irritation, boredom, selfishness, laziness, cruelty—

"Well?" he broke into her mental list of the various unpleasant emotions she'd been in the habit of witnessing from him. "I called home. Obachan wants to see you too."

Kyoko looked away. She both wanted and didn't want to go… She bit her lip. That expression on his face… Obachan...

"Give me a day to arrange things," she mumbled.

An impatient expression replaced the grieving one. "What? I wanted to leave tomorrow!"

Kyoko gave him a syrupy sweet smile. "Oh? Well, that may be easy for someone like you, but I really have far too many obligations at work to skip town without advance notice. I'm just so booked lately."

Shotaro flushed in anger, glaring at her, and she beamed in triumph, knowing she'd scored a point. The elevator finally arrived, its doors sliding open with a chime.

"I'll call you when I've settled everything," she said.

"Just make sure you buy a green ticket for the train!" he yelled as she jammed her finger on the "close door" button. It closed on Shotaro's grumpy face.

When it began moving, she leaned her forehead against the cool metal doors. How in the world was she going to tell Tsuruga-san? Even her previous concern of telling him she was thinking of quitting Setsu seemed to shrink beside the idea of telling him that she was leaving on a journey with Shotaro. Her insides quaked at the idea, so she avoided the issue by contacting the rest of her other obligations.

The Darumaya couple were concerned, of course, about the nature of her "family" emergency, but gave her time off without hesitation. The Box R director was a little more concerned, but eventually said that they could do without her for a few days if they switched a couple of scenes around. Luckily, Natsu wasn't a main character and the main shooting could still go on while she was gone. School was the easiest to arrange, since they were used to the odd schedules of students. She could even take some work with her so she wouldn't fall behind. Kanae didn't pick up her phone, so she left a quick message.

Finally, though, she was donning her Setsu gear and had no one left to tell but Tsuruga Ren. Finished, she clipped her fake lip ring into place, grabbed her bag, and hurried to the parking garage of L.M.E. She was a few minutes early, so she waited, glad for the time to consider what she would say.

She was unprepared, however, for the way her heart would give a giant thump when she saw him walk into the parking garage, glowering in that special way that only her brother could do.

"Setsu," he said in his characteristic low voice, his face its usual expressionless mask.

"Brother," she said with equal solemnity, and as one they exited the building.

I should tell him now, she thought as they entered his silver Audi and buckled in. But she didn't. She was suddenly struck with a memory of the last time Fuwa Sho had come up between them.

His eyes glowed with a fury she had never seen and the next thing she knew, he was on top of her, hands searing her skin though the skimpy clothes, mouth inches from hers…

And then of course…

His pulse thudded against her lips, the heat of his skin filling her with a warmth that was both terrifying and exhilarating. How far was she willing to go?

Kyoko felt a low pool of heat begin in her belly and spread upwards until she was sure even her wig was blushing. No, no, no. She couldn't tell him as Cain about leaving with Shotaro. At least… not while they were alone. Maybe she should do it while on set. Yeah, safety in numbers...

But things were taken out of her hands when they walked onto the Tragic Marker set and were greeted immediately by Director Konoe.

"Ah, Setsuka-san," he said with that half-nervous smile he always wore when addressing them while they were in-character, "Sawara-san was kind enough to forward your request for a leave of absence. I think we'll be fine. Most of the cast knows by now that Heel-san speaks enough Japanese to get by…" he trailed off, going pale at the dark look Cain was giving his sister.

"You're going somewhere?" he asked in English.

Kyoko froze, then swallowed and shrugged one leather-clad shoulder with casual indifference. "Family emergency. You remember, don't you, brother?" she said, trying to make it seem as if it was an in-character arrangement. "It'll only be a couple of days."

Konoe looked slightly confused, but of course, he wouldn't be able to follow their English conversation.

Cain strode past the director, only turning once to call over his shoulder in a gruff voice, "Setsu! We need to talk."

Trembling inside, but determined not to break character, Kyoko followed with Setsu's indifferent expression pasted on.

"Makeup and costume, Heel-san," said a nervous looking crewmember as Cain passed by like a thunderstorm.

Setsu caught up as he paused in the corridor and guided him into the dressing room with a gentle shove. The makeup artist waited inside, looking wide-eyed as usual.

"This one doesn't speak English," Setsu said. "It'll be private enough."

He glowered at her, letting her know that he saw through her ruse, but she tossed her hair back and met his gaze unflinchingly.

With a grunt that might have been a laugh in a happier man, Cain folded his long body into the chair, but kept his eyes on his sister.

"Tell me," he ordered, as the makeup girl slid a band around his hair to pull it back from his face. She began wiping his skin with a cloth, cleaning it before the prosthetics could be pasted on.

Kyoko thought for a moment, wondering how she could keep the story both true and in-character at the same time. But before she could, he darted a quick look at her, a half-feral light coming to his eyes.

"It's something to do with that rat bastard, isn't it?" Cain said with a half snarl. His long fingers gripped the armrests of the makeup chair so hard this knuckles went white.

"Stay seated, Heel-san," said the makeup artist nervously. "Not finished yet."

"Yes," Setsu said, examining her nails. "Mother's family is from Kyoto, as you well know," she said with a shrug. "I spent a lot of time there as a child when you were off at school in England. They took care of me when Mother had to work." She paused. "Obachan was especially kind. She used to give me sweets. A couple of days ago, I received a letter that she is dying. They were trying to find the rat bastard, so I pointed them in the right direction. He asked me to go with him, to visit Obachan one last time."

The makeup artist pulled back from where she'd been pressing the prosthetic scars across his face. "The glue for this part needs to dry a bit, Heel-san, so you can get into costume if you want, then I'll apply the rest."

Setsu translated and he nodded. With a relieved expression, the makeup girl fled the room. Cain rose from the chair, and Setsu watched his movements with wary eyes, but he merely walked to the hanging racks at the back of the room that had costumes all labeled for the day's shoot. Without ceremony, he began stripping off his clothes, tossing them carelessly on the floor.

"Tch," Setsu said, shaking her head, bending down to pick up his shirt and pants, folding them neatly. "Maybe I shouldn't go. I'm going to come back to our hotel room and find it buried under an avalanche of clothing and junk food wrappers. Hmm. Speaking of food, I'll have to lay out some easy meals before I go. There're also some instant noodles in the pantry…"

He was silent for a moment as she puttered around, placing the clothes neatly into his bag, and muttering about his meals while she would be away.

"Do you want to go?"

"No," she said quickly, then amended, "well, not for him. Obachan was very kind to me." She paused, then looked him full in the face. "If you don't want me to go, I won't."

He looked up, startled as he pulled his pants on, hitching them up around his hips. "As easy as that?"

"As easy as that," she confirmed, meeting his gaze.

He sighed as he zipped up his pants and frowned at the artfully torn shirt he was supposed to wear for the first scene's shoot. Without a word, Setsu came over and helped him into it, making sure the cloth avoided the glue on his face.

"You should go. We can't choose our family, or the people who raised us," he said, darting a quick look at her as she fixed the band holding his hair back. It had fallen off as she'd helped him get the shirt on. "Family is important, even if they produced a rat bastard like that guy."

Setsu smiled.

"How are you getting there? Train?"

"Yeah." She paused. "He wants to leave by tomorrow. I've… I've already made arrangements to leave."

"Do you have a ticket yet?" he asked, pulling on fingerless gloves that were also in the costume bag.

"No. I… I wanted to tell you first," she said, not stating the obvious that she was sure he would forbid her, and so she hadn't wanted to waste the money on a nonrefundable, expensive green seat ticket.

He grunted. "I'll buy it," he said, going to his bag to take out his phone. He flipped it open and began texting quickly.

Kyoko started. "What? No, they're not—" She paused. She'd been about to say "not your family," but that was a serious character breach. Setsu might pout for a bit at her brother's extravagances, but gave in when it came to things like this. Her brother's desires always trumped her own.

He lifted an eyebrow.

She sighed. "It's the 7:50 train from Tokyo Station to Kyoto." She bit her lip, hating the expense she was subjecting him to. "We're buying green tickets." She had to turn away to hide the expression on her face. Green tickets! It was bad enough that she had to travel with Shotaro, but to add on that additional price… over 18,000 yen. She'd almost cried when she'd looked up the amount for a measly two hour trip.

"Done," he said, and tossed his phone back into his bag. He glanced at her as he straightened. "Are you afraid of me?"

She cocked her head, her lip ring's chain cool against her cheek. "What a stupid question. How could I be afraid of my beloved, scatterbrained brother?"

He shrugged. "After my… behavior the other night, I can't blame you for wanting witnesses around when you told me about the rat bastard."

She smiled to cover the blush she felt rising into her cheeks and stepped so close that she had to tilt her head to look directly in his face. "If I recall correctly, brother, it was I who had more of a bite than you."

His eyes gleamed, and before she knew what was happening, he'd grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around so that her back was against the dressing room wall and his hands were planted next to her head. She glanced at his face, startled, but there wasn't that same wildness that had overtaken him that night. He actually looked a little… mischievous.

"Speaking of bites," he said in a low voice, almost a growl. "I think it's best that the rat bastard knows that you are not his…"


A/N: A green seat is the same as first class; more spacious, less crowded, higher ticket price. The actual cost of a green seat train trip from Tokyo to Kyoto, according to current rates, is 18,160 yen. That's a little over $170 US dollars. We don't know what Kyoko's income is like, but she's frequently portrayed as very thrifty because she has to be. It's not hard to imagine that a sudden expense of nearly $200 would be an extravagance for her.