~ Do You Know What Fanfiction Is? ~

"Oh, well..." Ogata said slowly, as he considered what the best solution would be in this case. "Maybe you could go take a nap while we film as many scenes without Katsuki as we can?"

Ren agreed only because protesting that he wouldn't be able to sleep now - after having just told the director that his mistakes were due entirely to tiredness - would lead to awkward questions that he was not prepared to answer.

Yashiro, recalling what he'd witnessed the last time Ren had taken a nap on the Dark Moon set, immediately went into sparkly-eyed fanboy mode. Ren pinned his manager with a dark glare, and Yashiro snapped out of it with an embarrassed cough. He really had to start being more careful. This was the second time today that he'd let his mask of professionalism slip in front of the director. Ogata didn't seem like the type to intentionally spread rumors, but there was still the possibility that he might let something slip to someone who would, and that just would not do. Ren's public image would suffer if it were made known that his manager was actually quite a goofball under the exterior of stern professionalism with which he generally comported himself.

Alone in his dressing room, Ren sat on the couch with his head in hands and let out a heavy sigh. He wasn't going to be able to sleep any more peacefully now than he had last night. Seeing Kyoko today had only made his torment more real, especially when she'd looked up at him with Mio's face but an expression that was purely Kyoko and asked him if he was alright. Not wanting her to connect his distraction with that fanfic, he'd made excuses to her about something he'd eaten disagreeing with him.

Too late, he realized that he'd given a different explanation to the director than he'd given to Kyoko and if the two of them somehow ended up discussing his condition with each other, then they were likely to conclude that he was more ill than he'd let on...

Kyoko would most likely be very upset with him if she found out he'd lied to her about what was wrong with him - or at least not told her the whole truth, since she probably would still think the lie he'd told her was also true.

Ren groaned and pressed his palms against his temples. He didn't want to think about what her reaction would be. Would she get angry and yell at him for being so negligent in caring for himself? Would she get teary-eyed and accuse him of not trusting her?

Stop, he told himself. Just stop. Don't think about it. Clear your mind. Don't think about anything. Take your nap so you can finish your scenes.

Of course, as soon as Ren laid down and tried to sleep, his brain decided to replay scenes from the previous night's dreams and repeat a few choice lines from Corrupted Guardian that he seemed to have committed to memory on accident.

'The feathers were soft beneath Mio's fingers, although they radiated a faint crackle of dark energy.'

'The Demon Angel leaned down and ran the tip of her tongue over each raised line of hardened flesh of Mio's scar.'

"No. Stop," Ren scolded himself aloud for his errant thoughts. "Stop remembering that. It wasn't even particularly well-written."

His brain had other ideas, as it proved when it decided now was a perfect time to show him an image of Mio in a certain blue dress, running through the woods of Karuizawa in a panic as she fled from-

A flash of anger chased the image from his mind as he thought of that guy. But in the dream, he - Ren - had been the one chasing her. And not as his Dark Moon character, either, but as himself.

Ren turned over so he was facing the back of the couch and tried once more to clear his mind of any deviant thoughts about Kyoko and any characters played by her, so that he could try to catch enough of a nap to restore his ability to concentrate. Unfortunately for him, as soon as he closed his eyes, his fantasies decided to manifest themselves once more.

Am I really this much of a pervert? he wondered. How are we ever going to finish filming Dark Moon if I can't look at Mio without having flashbacks to that stupid fanfiction?

~oOo~

A/N: Uh... I seem to maybe be heading in the direction of a Yashiro/Ogata pairing. How the hell did that even happen... and more importantly, does anyone want to see it?