Chapter 7

I'm Sorry

It was simple.. He would go pick her up from TBM and give her a ride home, catching dinner on the way. At least that's what he thought until he ran into half of Bo. She knew.. she knew this whole time and she was playing me. He was livid and Kyoko felt her world come crashing down around her.

"But.. I'm sorry, I just wanted to help." she called out. "I just wanted to be your friend." She whispered to his distant back as tears streamed down her cheeks.

He drove home in the hazy red fog of anger, parked and the made his way to his apartment a little more calm than before yet, still very angry. He felt like she had made a fool of him. I told her I was in love with her damn-it. Well, I guess I have my answer then.

"Kyoko-chan, I'm here to give you a ride... Oh.. What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Yashiro took out a hankie and gave it to her to wipe her tears.

"Tsuruga-san is angry with me for being Bo. He said that I played with him. Hic. I don't know what he's talking about. Sniffle. I never did anything like that. All I did was give him advice when he needed it. Hic. Sob." She felt like her heart had been ripped out. This feels worse than when Sho threw me away.

"It's okay Kyoko-chan, give him time to sleep on it. I'll find out why he was so angry for you tomorrow. Okay?" Yashiro was rubbing little circles on her back to calm her down.

She nodded and dabbed her tears.

Yashiro held out his hand and helped her up from where she had been crying. "Now, let's get you home."

"Ren.. What did you do to Kyoko-chan? She was crying her eyes out when I came to pick her up from TBM tonight." Yashiro wanted to bite his head off but, knew it would get him nowhere if he wanted to hear Ren's side of the story.

"She's Bo." Ren told him in a serious tone.

"and... that gives you reason to reduce her into the state she was in tonight? She was devastated. She told me she only tried being your friend. You want to explain to me what's going on?" He wanted to say more.

"I told her I was in love with her a long time ago. Yashiro-san, she played me." bringing it up again was bringing back the anger.

"So, you're telling me you came out and told Kyoko-chan that you loved her and she strung you along? That doesn't sound like her." Yashiro knew he was leaving something out.

"No I told Bo I was in love with a..." He sighed when he realized his enormous mistake. "I screwed this up so bad."

"You told Bo what?" Yashiro prodded.

Ren sighed again, "I told him that I was in love with a high school girl. I didn't give her name."

"and what?... You expect her to be a mind reader? You need to fix this yourself. I'll see you tomorrow." Yashiro told him in a scolding tone.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." How do I fix this? Her Bo is nothing compared to my secrets. I must have made her feel so horrible. This was his last train of thought as he dozed off on his living-room sofa.

Kyoko tossed and turned all night with dreams that were filled with nightmarish images of Ren in various demonic phases, inflicting a multitude of punishments on her fragile heart. Her final nightmare ended with the old Reino stepping in and coming to her rescue. Oddly enough it calmed her and she couldn't understand why. In her dream he comforted her, he said nothing about her characters, or her normal appearance, he just sat with her in his arms and held her without speaking.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Kyoko's hand slammed down on the alarm and she proceeded with her the morning routine that she had gone through yesterday. When it came time to dress, she picked her more mature look again, she enjoyed the feeling it gave and the little bit of attention that came with it. Her friends complimented her quite a bit yesterday and the confident feeling it gave made her feel worthy somehow. She didn't feel plain and boring. She looked cute in her tight black jeans, fitted V-neck sweater and her cowgirl boots. She covered the dark circles under her eyes and wore just a touch more makeup than yesterday so she wouldn't look so pale from the lack of good sleep. She topped it off with a lipstick that was a little bit more on the red side just to be different and shake things up.

She bounced down the stairs feeling a little better than before. She looked up. There he was.. Her scarred mystery musician, sitting at the counter waiting for her. "Hi..." She stammered out.

"Hi, sorry. The Okami said I could wait for you here. I came by to see if you needed a ride." He sounded nervous about something.

"Um, Yashiro-san usually picks me up. Hold on." She felt a little brave and something felt oddly familiar.

She took out her phone and called Yashiro. "Um, Yashiro-san?"

"Ah, Kyoko-chan. I'm heading out the door right now." He sounded like he was in a hurry.

"Oh, don't worry I have a ride." She told him while glancing in Reino's direction.

"Oh, oh okay. Are you sure." He sounded a little pleased. I guess Ren went to pick her up.

"Yeah. I'm sure." She hung up and turned back to Reino. "Okay.. that's taken care of."

"So..what time you gotta be there?" He wanted to tell her today. It was killing him with guilt that she didn't know who he was.

"Um, I actually don't have to be anywhere until around 11am, that give us 3 hours." She told him as she looked at her watch.

"Alright, but there's something I need to tell you before you agree to go with me anywhere. I don't want you to feel like you've made a mistake." He took off the sunglasses, but kept his eyes closed.

Kyoko walked to him and lifted his face so that he would be looking into her eyes when he opened his. "It's alright." she said softly, remembering Ren's reaction to her secret last night. "I think I already know." she brushed a little of his hair away from the scar. "But, I'll let you tell me why and I will listen to you." a little tear fell at the memory.

His violet eyes finally peered into her gentle molten gold, "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry for saying horrible things to you all those times. I'm sorry I lied about who I was, and I'm sorry for doing what I did in Karuizawa. I didn't want you to hate me. I really was an idiot like you said and I want to make it up to you." He spilled it all out to her.

"I forgive you." She told him as if it had never happened.

"Just like that? But.." He was a little shocked.

"Of course, you meant your apology and that's all that I need. But, you didn't really lie to me about who you were, you just kind of left it out and I didn't really catch on." She gave him a gentle smile and ran her thumb over part of his scar. "What happened?"

"Hmm..?" He was in heaven over her gentle touch then snapped out of his Kyoko induced stupor. "Can we talk over breakfast? I'm kinda hungry and I've got the perfect place to take you." He gave her a boyish smile.

She nodded.

He rose, grabbed her hand gently and led her out of the Darumaya to his car. "You're going to love this place." He told her as he tucked her safely into his car. "They have the most delicious food I've ever had and they aren't that expensive." He had a hunch she would like it.