Chapter 4 – And the winner is…

Kyoko's feet felt like they weighed 20kg. Each step seemed to take an eternity, yet once she looked up, she was at the entrance to the managers' offices in seconds.

"Hello, Mogami-san. Are you here for Sawara-san?" A woman to her right spoke snapping her out of her daze.

"Yes!" Kyoko smiled at the other manager. Her name was Fujita Emi. She was very kind. Even when Kyoko messed up her LoveMe assignment, Fujita-san still gave her 100 points.

"Well, come on, I'll walk with you," Fujita said kindly. Kyoko smiled and nodded, filling up the short walk with polite chit-chat. Soon, she stood in front of Sawara's desk as he looked for her information.

"Ah! Here it is," Sawara announced, and she heard a low whistle coming from his lips. "You got five replies. That's very, very good Mogami-san," he told her with a little smile. Kyoko frowned confused. Five people want to date me for show? Do they even know who I am? I wonder if they sent the Moko's picture instead of mine. He held out the paper with the names snapping her out of her self-depreciating thoughts. She waved her hands and shook her head.

"Just pick one for me, Sawara-san, please. I wouldn't know who to pick. It will all be the same anyway, right?" Her shoulders fell a little thinking about what she would have to do for the next few months. Would she be able to do it?

"How about this," he started and picked up a pen. He wrote down the numbers one through five next to the names as he finished, "Pick a number between one through five."

"Um… four," she said thinking that was a good number.

"Alright…." He took a notepad and wrote the name and contact information down for her.

"Here you go then. Remember it's only for show. They were all expecting a call today. You call him, and I'll call the rest. Good luck, Kyoko," he said with a smile. Kyoko nodded as she timidly took the paper.

Sawara watched as Kyoko left the area. He looked at the sheet in front of him at the five names.

Ishibashi Hikaru

Fuwa Sho

Takaharahi Aratta

Kuroski Isao

Reino

Too bad she didn't pick two, huh. Sawara thought with a little laugh, placed the sheet in the "To be shredded" pile and resumed his work.

Kyoko walked towards the LME room reading the information given to her.

Kuroski Isao

Akatoki Agency

03 9853 3510

She didn't recognize the name, but she did the agency. It was Sho's. Hopefully, she won't have to meet him there. Ever. Kyoko reached the LoveMe room, cell phone in hand and stared at it. What do I say? Sighing, she dials the number and after five rings heard it answer.

"Please leave your message at the tone," an automated voice told her. Slightly confused, Kyoko introduced herself and left her number. Before she had a chance to get stand, her phone rang again. Unknown number. She smiled thinking of Ren and promptly answered.

"Kyoko, Isao here. Thanks for calling. I'll pick you up at 8 in front of LME," Isao's voice came out without a greeting, without any formalities. He was direct and to the point, so much in fact that it frightened her a bit.

"Wait! Tonight? Already?" Kyoko said flustered causing him to laugh.

"The sooner the better, we can take it slow and go to dinner. You haven't eaten, right?" He finally asked her something instead of assuming her reply. She knew this was a business transaction but to be this abrupt was head spinning.

"No," she said honestly shaking her head. This is happening so fast. I haven't really prepared myself.

"Good. Wear something showy," Isao ordered and hung up without saying goodbye. Kyoko still had her phone to her ear hearing dead air. Something showy? What does that mean? What if I had plans tonight? The more she thought about it the angrier she got. He sounded exactly like some other arrogant jerk in Akatoki. Okay, the voice was completely different, but the arrogance was still the same. In the end, she was free tonight. She was done for the day, and Box R was on a break, so she was left doing LoveMe jobs. Nevertheless, it would have been nice if he ASKED me instead of assuming, she fumed but relented. She finally put her cell away and stripped off her pink coveralls.

"Something showy…" Kyoko spoke to herself. Does that mean flashy? Like bright? She momentary looked at her coveralls again and shook her head chuckling to herself.

"I can wear something bright," she said to no one as she turned off the lights and left.

Friday Night...

Ren stormed through the building with his manager trailing behind him. The soonest Yashiro could get to see Lory was around 7:30 at night. People that were still in the building were giving them a wide berth. He could hear Yashiro mumble apologies and excuses as to why the gentleman Tsuruga Ren was acting so angry. He didn't care; all he wanted was to get to Lory's office now. No, he wanted to see him four hours ago.

Ren forcefully opened the large heavy wooden door. Normally it would take some effort to get it open. It was so grand and of course solid mahogany wood, the fact that it slammed against the wall as Ren walked in was a testament to how upset the news of Kyoko dating made him. Especially, when she wasn't dating him.

"Good Evening, Ren. How are we doing tonight?" Ren watch Lory sitting comfortably in his cushy chair. No doubt Lory was expecting his outburst.

"As if you don't know, I would have said yes if you told me it was for her," Ren said darkly as loomed over his desk. He felt like he could break the damn thing, to have his Kyoko out there with another man, make believe or not.

"Now, Ren," Lory said with a little smirk. "I did give you the first chance to be her partner, but you flat out refused. I even double checked with you."

"But you NEVER said it was with her!" Ren pounded his fist onto the desktop.

"I don't understand why you are getting so worked over for this," Lory said casually, "I understand how you feel, but she isn't really dating him. She isn't going to do anything she doesn't want to do. It's all for show. You know this."

Ren already went through all of this in his head in the past four hours. Never mind the fact that he - himself - may have slept with some of the people he "pretend" dated. Kyoko wasn't like that. She barely had her first kiss. She probably hasn't had a microscopic thought of sex enter her head in her whole life. The thought of her having sex with anyone but himself made Ren's blood boil, and he began to pace in the middle of the room.

"Who is it?" He asked running his hands through his hair. He noticed Yashiro standing out of the way by the door which Ren assumed he closed behind them. Lory coughed a little.

"Kuroski Isao," Lory said carefully. Ren froze in mid motion, and Yashiro cringed at the name.

"THAT ASSHOLE? WHY DID YOU PICK HIM?" Ren's body moved so quickly to Lory, if you blinked you would have missed it. He had Lory facing him as he shook with unreleased fear and anger. Kuroski Isao was a notorious bad boy. He played with women left and right. He was the Tabloid King. Ren couldn't understand how anyone could work with him.

"Calm Down," Lory ordered in a deep cold voice and gave Ren a hard look. That was an command, not a request or advice. No matter how close they were, Ren knew he was taking it too far as he threaten his second father. Ren moved away and started to pace again, his hands clenching and unclenching as he walked.

"She choose him. I didn't," Lory told him making Ren jerk back to him incredibly. He really didn't know how many more surprises he could take today. He didn't say or ask, but Lory continued, "Apparently she sort of picked a name out of a hat and pulled out his. Granted, you probably wouldn't have been pleased with the others who responded either. Everyone who replied could help Mogami-kun in her career so strictly speaking it didn't matter who was picked for her."

Ren finally sat down, slumping in the oversized chair. Does she know about him and his ideals? He wondered. He knows she doesn't watch television or read the papers. Why would she know about his exploits?

"Once I found out who she picked, I called up his offices and made sure that he behaves like a proper gentleman to her," Lory said trying to give some sort of comfort.

Ren snorted. "Like I believe that," he grumbled.

"Well you are going to have to." Lory stood up and walked over to Ren. Ren followed suit and stood from his seat as well. He felt Lory's hand on his shoulder and felt himself follow Lory's direction. "It will only be for a few months. This will help Kyoko in the end and perhaps next time this happens you will be her partner. And hopefully, I won't be the one who will set it up." Lory had walked Ren to the door where Yashiro held it open and promptly closed it behind them, where Ren found himself in the hallway utterly defeated.