A/N: I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the positive reviews. Here is the third chapter. Let me know what you think.

Chapter 3: Confessions

Saturday

Kyoko dragged herself out of bed when her alarm clock went off. Having failed at falling back asleep, she had simply tried to rest. She looked at the clock. 6:00 AM. Mumbling complaints about playboys and friends, she stretched and started her morning routine. After taking a shower and donning a pair of white slacks and a green blouse, she grabbed her sandals and ran downstairs to get breakfast.

"Good morning Okami-san. Taisho-san" She bowed to them after setting her sandals on the floor.

"Good morning Kyoko-can. Did you sleep well?" The Okami-san had a knowing smile on her face, making Kyoko uncomfortable.

"Um…. yes. I slept well. Thank you."

"Who was that young man who dropped you off last night?" The Taisho dropped a plate in front of her with more force than usual and sat beside his wife, obviously waiting for an answer.

"Um, that was my se…friend. Tsuruga-s…Ren-san. Tsuruga Ren."

"Ah. Your friend. Well we understand. Just be sure to let us know if you won't be home at night so we don't worry." The Okami-san was smiling as she ate her breakfast.

"Erm…okay. Of course." The Taisho was watching her closely, and he looked rather angry. After she finished, she followed the Taisho to the kitchen. "Taisho-san, are you angry with me?" He turned and his face softened at the worried teen's face.

"No." He went back to cleaning his knives. She smiled and looked at the clock.

"I'd better get to work. Have a good day."

"Have a good day Kyoko-can!" The Okami-san came to stand by her husband. "I think she's in love."

"Hmmph."

Kyoko threw open the Love Me room in anticipation and wasn't disappointed. "MOKO-san!" She launched herself and the longhaired actress who stepped sideways, never looking up from her script, and Kyoko ran face first into the wall. "Moko-saaaan! That was so mean." She whined as she rubbed her nose.

"Well, don't throw yourself at me like that." She locked the door and, grabbing Kyoko's arm, threw her onto a bench. "Now what's wrong?"

"Huh?" She cocked her head, and Kanae could swear that she saw little floppy dog ears appear on her head.

"Mo! You know what I mean. I check my voicemail last night and the first thing I hear is a strange, depressed message that cuts off in the middle. Then you don't even bother recording an apology message. So what's wrong? Why did you suddenly want to see me?"

"Um…I missed you! I haven't seen you in a long time!" She took this opportunity to throw her arms around her best friend and squeezed hard. Kanae shoved her off.

"I saw you earlier this week." She glared at Kyoko. "Kyoko Mogami, if you don't tell me what's wrong right now, we are no longer friends!" At Kyoko's silence, she stood abruptly. "Well, apparently we are done here. I'll just…."

"NOOOO MOKO-saaaaan! I"ll tell you! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" She threw herself as the irritated actress's feet and gripped her ankle.

"MO! Sit up! Get off the floor. You are an actress! An actress shouldn't act like this." Once Kyoko and Kanae were in their respective seats, Kyoko began.

"There's a Halloween Party at my school on Monday. But I can't go because I have….the Dangerous Mission at 8."

Kanae's eyes narrowed. Her expression clearly said thisbettergetworse. Nervously, Kyoko cleared her throat. "I was just upset because…" Kyoko took a deep breath, "because I found out that someone was having another Halloween Party and when I asked when it was they pretended not to know what I was talking about and I don't have any friends at school and the girls are all mean and it reminds me of when I lived with Sho and all the girls hated me because I lived with him, but now I don't live with Sho so…" She took a deep breath. "I can't blame it on Sho anymore. I'm just not likable." She stared miserably at her clasped hands and tried not to let her sorrow show.

Kanae stared at her friend, unsure of what to do. Not having friends had always been a choice for Kanae. Friends were distracting and irritating and required too much from her. But Kyoko was different. The girl had wormed her way into Kanae's heart and now she was firmly lodged there. Seeing her friend obviously so upset made her heart ache in a strange, unfamiliar way. Hesitantly at first, she leaned in and wrapped her arms around her orange haired best friend.

"Kyoko, you are not unlikable."

"But Moko-san…"

"MO! Shut up and listen for a minute! You are not unlikable. Those people are all jerks, okay? If they don't see how amazing you are, they don't deserve you as a friend anyway. You have a lot of friends anyway."

"But…"

"Would I lie to you!" She shoved Kyoko back, uncomfortable with how nice it felt to hug her friend willingly. "You have me. Maria-chan. Those three from that show you do Bo on. A lot of people from Dark Moon, from what I saw at that stupid Christmas Party. Even Tsuruga and his manager are your friends!" She stopped as surprise, happiness, embarrassment, irritation, fury, and then more embarrassment showed on her friends face. "Kyoko!" The girl jumped and stared at her friend, realizing her mistake. "What happened with Tsuruga?"

"Um…what makes you think anything happened?" She grinned and scratched her head.

"Because of that look on your face! Mo. Unless you are falling for his manager." She trailed off, grimacing.

Kyoko sighed and related the events of the previous night. "Moko-san," she concluded, "I think I'm fa...fa…falling in…lo…love…with Tsur…Ren." She stuttered, eyes wide in fear.

"Really? Never would have guessed." Kanae deadpanned.

"What am I going to do Moko-san! How do I act around him? What if he finds out? He'll hate me! And he'll never want to speak to me again!" She paused. "Well, maybe not hate me…but he'll be uncomfortable and…and…and he'll avoid me and it will be just like when I first came here!" She sobbed out. Kanae sighed at her dramatic friend.

"If you are that scared of telling him, I can't understand why you can't just act the way you always have."

"But if he finds out…"

"Why do you like him?"

"What?" Once again, the dog ears popped up on her head. Kanae wondered briefly how she did that as she sent up a prayer for patience.
"Why. Do. You. Like. Tsuruga."

"Um…Moko-san. I can't answer that!" Her face flushed a deep red. Kanae sat back and waited. "Um…well…he's just…him." Kyoko shrugged and stared at the floor in embarrassment, hoping that Kanae would let it go. No such luck.

"Kyoko, seriously. List some things that you like about him." No response. She tapped her fingers to show her irritation.

"Um…he's a good actor!" Kanae stared at her in silence. "I admire how professional he is. And…he's considerate. Usually friendly. Gentle." Her eyes grew softer. "Caring. Sweet. He has a temper, but he's so sweet to me that it makes up for it. He's always looking out for me. He makes me feel….safe. And…cherished." She trailed off, not noticing the stunned look on Kanae's face.

'She really is in love.' "Okay." She said softly. "Would a considerate, friendly, gentle person hate you because you admitted to having feelings for him?" Kyoko didn't answer, and Kanae knew she had her.

"I'm just scared Moko-san. What if…I lose him completely? Having him as a friend is enough."

"Maybe for now. And that's fine. But it might not always be. When you're ready to talk to him, just give it a try. And, once again, if he doesn't realize how wonderful you are," 'which, of course, he does, because he loves you so much it's painful to watch' "he isn't worth your time anyway. And if that happens, you still have so many people who care about you. Including me. Well, mostly me, because I'm your best friend." Her cheeks grew red at the embarrassing confession she had just made, but Kyoko's arms were crushing her before she could take it back. "MO! Get off! If you ever tell anyone what I just told you, I'll never speak to you again! Understand?"
Kyoko giggled at her flustered friend. "I understand, Moko-san."

The idea was so simple that it couldn't fail. But the thought of initiating it, much less putting it all together, was simply too much for her to grasp. Not to mention this would show everyone just how much she cared for her strange friend. Remembering the look in Kyoko's eyes earlier that day, Kanae sighed and dialed the number that she had stolen from her friend's phone.

"Hello?"

"Tsuruga-san? This is Kotonami Kanae, and I need to talk to you." She glared at the hideous pink lockers.

"Why? Is it about Kyoko? Is she okay?"

Snorting at his obviously panicked voice, she considered telling him that Kyoko had been in some horrible accident just to get his reaction, but decided that teasing him would only make his help harder to secure. "As of ten minutes ago, Kyoko is fine. I, however, need to speak with you. But it is about Kyoko. When can you meet me?"

On the other line, Ren nearly laughed at the girl's irritated tone. She had never gone out of her way to speak to him, and he was often amused by her strictly professional behavior, but if she wanted to speak to him about Kyoko, then he was willing. "I'm just finishing up now. I'll meet you in the Love Me room?"

"No." She said bluntly. "Kyoko might come back and this has to be a secret. Don't you have an office?"

"Yes. I share it with Yashiro though. Is it okay if he listens in?"

"Yea. I need him too anyway."

"Okay. It's on the fifth floor. Room 542. I'll see you about ten minutes?"

"Okay. Bye." He laughed when she hung up before he could get another word in. She obviously only deigned to speak to him because he was close to Kyoko.

When he arrived at his office, the long haired actress in the pink jumpsuit was glaring at him. "Good afternoon Kotonami-san."

"Yea. Good afternoon. Where's your shadow?"

Smirking, he unlocked the office. "On his way with some paperwork. It won't take him long." He ushered her inside. "Please sit."

The office had two desks, one covered in paperwork and the other with only a few scripts sitting out. She hesitated by the messier desk and looked at a photo of Yashiro with a young boy and girl at his side. "His sister's kids." Ren supplied when he saw the surprised look on her face. "They live pretty far away, so every once in a while he takes off to visit." She didn't respond, instead choosing to walk over to where he stood. On the other side of the office was a long couch and, across from it, two stuffed chairs. She took the couch while he choose to sit across from her in a chair. "So what can I do for you Kotonami-san?"

"Kyoko's upset." She said coldly.

He frowned, remembering when he had last seen her. "I beg your pardon?"

"Kyoko's upset!" She said again. He cocked his head again, and she was horrified to see the familiar little puppy ears pop up. "Ugh!" She shook her head irritably and decided to just get on with it. "There's some Halloween Party at her school on Monday, and she was sad because she couldn't go. She has her 'Dangerous Mission' that night." She saw the look of shock on Tsuruga's face but chose to ignore it. "So she heard some of her classmates talking about another party but when she asked them about it they were rude to her and she thinks that, since she doesn't have any friends there, that she is unlikable. Plus it is reminding her about her past with Fuwa." She caught the hatred in his eyes but, once again, chose to ignore his reactions. "So I want to cheer her up."

"Alright." He said carefully. "How?"

"We" she stressed the word "are going to throw her a party. A Halloween party. An over-the-top magnificent costume party. And we are going to invite all her friends." She didn't seem to happy about it.

"Um…okay."

"And it's going to be Monday afternoon, and she can leave from there to do whatever it is she needs to do."

"Um….Kontonami-san?"

"What?"

"You realize that it is Saturday?"

"Yes."

"Do you understand what you are saying?"

"Of course."

"So you know who we will have to go to if we want to plan an extravagant over-the-top costume party and invite all of Kyoko's friends, all in about one day?"

Sigh. "Yea."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"For her, it's worth it."

Yashiro burst in to the room. "Sorry! I had to pick up some more paperwork from…" He met the two at the door, both looking very grim. "What did I miss?" He asked his charge.

"Come on Yashiro. We'll fill you in on the way."

A/N: I'm sure you all know where they are going, but I thought it would be fun to build suspense. I was right. :D I sort of typed the first three chapters up at the same time, so the fourth might take a little bit, but I promise to try to finish quickly. I already have the story planned out. However, I also have a few papers to write for school…well, thanks for reading.