Ren stared at the fading pink sparks as he struggled to comprehend exactly who the message was for. All it had said was "Go for the Kiss!" While he assumed it was meant as an encouragement to him, the wording was just a touch too vague for his liking. But now he knew why his parents had insisted on lighting the finale off so late. The awkward silence would only last until they got back to the house and spill over into the next week or so. Would probably fade completely after, oh, ten, twenty years. Maybe never.

If Kyouko could read English that is. Ren wasn't sure how fluent she was anymore. He'd seen her chatting with the housekeeper and the gardener, but they both spoke fluent Japanese so that didn't mean anything. He just hoped no one had tutored her in English during her visits to his parents' house. The amber eyed actress visited three times a year, more if her schedule permitted. It had gotten to the point that his parents almost saw her more than he did now that she had gotten famous.

Because no matter how competent a manager Yashiro was, even he couldn't arrange Ren's schedule for a daily Kyouko pilgrimage.

As her sempai's mind spun with the possibilities, Kyouko wallowed in her embarrassment and slight anger towards her pseudo-mother. She'd told the woman in the strictest confidence about her feelings towards her sempai. The actress had expected to be the object of Okaa-san's matchmaking schemes, but this—this was way beyond Kyouko's wildest expectations.

And hadn't she made it expressly clear that she didn't want to be in love with such an unreachable person whom she would eventually have to separate with? She was the kind of person who loved to show affection and tell people how much she loved them. She'd give herself away at some point or another and she wouldn't be able stay beside her kind, gentle sempai anymore. There was no way someone as great as Ren would ever be interest as a newbie actress just beginning to become popular.

Kyouko pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on shaking the sand off her towel before rolling it up. She decided to ignore the message from her well-meaning, but hopelessly romantic pseudo-mother unless Ren-san brought it up. And if he did, she'd lie through her teeth and tell him it was all a misunderstanding. The amber eyed actress wouldn't be able to handle the cold rejection in his eyes when her beloved sempai found out about her feelings. So she would pretend they didn't exist, pretend it didn't hurt to be so close but so far away.

She turned her flip-flops upside down to get rid of the sand before slipping them on her feet. After a moment, Ren-san did the same and rolled up his towel, stuffing it into her tote bag before wordlessly handing it to her. Kyouko stuffed her own towel inside, staring at her feet and wondering if her sempai was waiting for her to break the silence.

Ren decided to just shoot himself in the foot already and at least try to start conversation. "Well, that was certainly different from last year's finale."

Kyouko nodded in agreement. "Nowhere near as fun as blowing up Shou dolls. Then again, I don't think anything can top that." Expected maybe kissing you, her treacherous mind supplied, and the actress wanted to sigh. Or cry. Or just scream in frustration. Maybe a bit of all three, but that didn't matter right now because she couldn't do anything but pretend it was alright. That she was alright. That the firework had been a mistake, meaning nothing.

The brunette hadn't known something as vitalizing as acting could hurt so much.

"True," Ren said quietly, allowing them to lapse into silence again. He'd meant to get her talking about this year's finale, but if she wanted to ignore it, that was fine with him. It was a bit disheartening, but he'd rather be a coward than never being able to stand beside the woman he loved again without making her uncomfortable.

"Why don't we head back?"

The actor nodded his agreement and the two slowly headed for the trail, very conscious of how close they were. They walked slowly, occasionally glancing at one another out of the corner of their eyes, but they didn't say anything, leaving the silence awkward and almost unbearable.


Julie watched her two beautiful children walk out of the trees from the sliding glass door and tried not to sigh. They were both brilliant and wonderful, but, really, did she have to get a permanent marker and write their feelings on their foreheads for them to finally, finally get together? The blonde was certainly starting to think so.

Kuu had been insistent that the adoption ploy would've been enough to motivate Kuon into action, but, from the awkwardness plainly visible between Kyouko and her sempai, it obviously hadn't. Now Julie was left without many options to get her children together since her big plan of attack, the finale, had failed terribly and had resulted in this stupid little standoff, each of them worrying that the other will see that their feelings are more than just friends and that by falling in love with the other they've doomed themselves to some kind of lonely torture of being close but not close enough.

They were a pair of blind idiots. And sometimes Julie wondered if it was even worth trying anymore since they were so dead set against it, but she wouldn't give up. Not with her babies' happiness on the line.

She opened the door as the actors reached the edge of the porch and leaned against the frame. "Have fun, kids?"

"Of course," her son replied, smiling at her brightly. Her eventual-daughter-in-law flashed her a very similar smile that obviously stated that Kyouko was just as happy with Julie's interference as Kuon was.

They'd thank her for it eventually though. But they'd have to stop being stubborn first and actually admit their feelings. Only her children would end up as cowards in love, but Julie supposed it was understandable, considering their past experiences.

"Why don't we all have some ice tea before heading to bed?"

The couple-to-be opened their mouths to protest, but the tiny blonde was already ushering them into the kitchen and grabbing cups from the cabinets in passing. The two brunettes glanced at each other, wordlessly expressing their mutual exasperation. They wanted nothing more than to go to bed, separately, and never talk, let alone think, about the disaster the night had turned out to be.

"Now, who's going first?"

Kyouko stared at her pseudo-mother while Ren-san sighed, putting an elbow on the counter and a hand over his eyes.

Julie gave a long-suffering sigh. "You two have been dancing around each other for far too long. Everyone else can see it, but you two are too wrapped up in your own misconceptions to even think your feelings are returned. So I say again, who's going first?" After a few moments of silence, the blonde offered, "I can leave you two alone if my presence is impeding either of your confessions."

As they continued to simply stare at her, Julie worriedly wondered if she'd broke her children.


A/N: Sorry this year's chapter is short. Thanks for reading!

Happy Independence Day to any Americans reading this!