Chapter 2

"And CUT!" the director shouted onset. "Natsu, that was perfect-we'll just need 2 more shots of this scene, and then you are free to go today. You are on a roll, best performance on set sofar!" Kyoko glowed at the high praise. Today is a wonderful day, my first time onset without a single NG on a full day shoot and now I'm leaving early. Maybe I can even help Okamisan and Taisho with the dinner rush, I feel bad that I've been so busy lately that I havent lent a hand...Not to mention...a small smile appears on Kyoko's face as she walks her bike off set.

Ren drops his bags in his house and takes a seat, finally back from his overseas trip. Man, its good to be home, and with no on location shoots for at least the next month...He ignores the small voice in his head that recognizes that the majority of his happiness stems from Kyoko being within driving distance, as he grabs his scotch decanter and pours himself a drink and sits down on the couch.

The next morning

"Moooookooo-saannnnnn!" Kyoko does a running leap at Kanae, seeing her in the LME locker room, which Kanae deftly dodges, leaving Kyoko to crash nearby the bench and cry.

"We've talked about this, stop attacking me every time you see me, Kyoko!" Kanae stammers, flustered by the near miss. "But Moko, I havent seen you in so long! Can't I be excited to see you?"

"No!" Kanae says with her usual grumpy attitude. Kyoko proceeds to get teary eyed, and Kanae sighs heavily turning around to the whirlpool of dispair forming behind her and says "I've missed you too...Kyoko.." Kyoko immediately brightens and say's "What has you here today Kanae?"

"Ugh, this stupid assignment is just not going well! How am I supposed to act happy to follow this guy around and do nothing but support him? I don't get the main character or why shes in love with this samurai-she used to have such a glamourous, happy life and now she lives, barely doing anything for herself since her family died. Shes just too happy to be this poor-its like she lives just for him and with a smile on her face. I find girls like that disgusting. Talk about a doormat"

Kyoko's aura darkens and she stares at the ground "Yes...yes...girl's like that are the most foolish, giving up everything for the sake of a man and working only to please him." The amount of grudges surrounding her starts to grow larger and larger, as she morphs into Mio. Kanae, wide-eyed, realizes her mistake, and how close her depiction of this role is to Kyoko's past.

She stammers "Well, at least he is a decent man who treats her right and loves her...Hmph. I've just never experienced emotion strong enough for someone to be willing to throw everything away for them-but hey, maybe one day-"

Before Kanae can dig herself any deeper into the subject and before Kyoko feels any worse, she completely changes the course of the conversation "Kanae, have you seen Chiori today?"

"No I can't say I have Kyoko, but I did see her yesterday-she said you went through an entire 8 hour set without a single NG, thats incredible! I'm sure you were happy" Kanae internally grumbles...I had 4 NG'S on the set and we were only there 2 hours this morning-my rival is growing in leaps and bounds. The things her costars are saying about her are going to really take her places.

"Yesterday was a great day, it was the first time in a while that I've had a whole day on set acting, not to mention Mr Tsur-..." She drifts off, not finishing her sentence and blushes, fiddling with the lace ties on the front of her shirt. Kanae can't help herself from teasing "What was that Kyoko? That last bit about Mr. Tsuruga?"

"Yes, Ms. Mogami, what about Mr. Tsuruga?" He gives a devilish smile from the doorway having overheard the last part of the conversation and watches as her face and hands turn instantly tomato red. "M-Mr. T-Tsuruga! I'm so sorry! We...we weren't talking about you behind your back or anything!" she leaps forward, looking like she's ready to get into her normal dogeza stance.

Ren stops her, and sighs. "It's really fine Ms. Mogami, I know you're not a gossip" I wish I was here 30 seconds earlier though so I could hear if she said anything about me...His eyes lighten as he stares down at her with an adoring look at she is completely oblivious to.

Kanae slowly makes her exit, knowing that the two of them won't notice anyway. She takes one last glance at the two and smirks. Good luck, Ren Tsuruga, you're going to need it.