Chapter 6 – Intrigue

Three days had passed since her date with Ren. She was able to have lunch with him again the following day but they weren't able to see each other since then. Tonight would be another date with Sho but first she had to welcome home her best friend.

"MOKO-SAN!"

Kanae prepared for this. She knew she would have to live with her and knew what that came with. She held out her large suit case in front of herself, and Kyoko ran to it and hugged it with a frown. Kanae let go, and Kyoko fell with the weight of it.

"Moko-san, aren't you happy to see me?" Kyoko was on the verge of tears and Kanae was about to crack when she noticed her apartment.

"What did you do to my place?!" She dropped her luggage and walked around.

"Eh? I cleaned it." Kyoko stood up and waddled with Kanae's suitcase.

"Yeah but I don't know where anything is now. You alphabetized my CDs," Kanae walked over to the kitchen and it was cleaner than she had ever seen it and there was food in there she never used before. She headed over to her bedroom and was stopped cold. She slowly turned her head into the bathroom. It was immaculate with nothing on the counter what's so ever.

"Where is all my makeup!?"Kanae yelled as if she was about to murder someone. Kyoko walked over and peaked in.

"Oh I found a rather large makeup case in those boxes and I put it all in there." Kyoko walked in, opened one of the cabinet doors and lugged out a large black kit. "See." She set it on the counter and opened it up. She flipped the lid open and pulled out all the little expandable trays. She had put each type of her makeup in its own section and organized it by color as well. She bought the case a long time ago but never had a chance to put her things in it and she was sure she wouldn't have put this much effort into organizing it if she did take the time to use it.

"Thank you, Kyoko," Kanae said in shock as she looked at the case, so she didn't notice Kyoko lunge in for a hug.

"Mo! Get off already!" Kyoko was smiling a huge smile, and Kanae couldn't help but smile back. Kanae went to her room and it looked like she didn't touch a thing in there. She smiled to herself and shook her head. As she exited she looked into Kyoko's room. All the boxes were gone, and the room was mostly empty except for the futon and her alarm clock lying on the floor next to it.

"Where is all your stuff?" She asked.

"Hmm?" Kyoko looked inside her room, "Well I'm only staying for hopefully two months, so I only brought clothes and my personal hygiene products. Most of my personal belongings are still at Ren's."

Kanae looked at her friend. "Ok. So spill, why did you need to leave Ren's so quickly?"

"How about I cook dinner, and I'll tell you while we eat?"

Kanae's eyes widened and shouted, "Nothing fatty!" Kyoko made a mushroom soup for the cooling autumn nights but didn't stop there. She had to make a desert, ichigo daifuku, and Kanae was hating every single delicious bite of the wonderful strawberry desert as Kyoko finished her story.

"Moko-san?" Kyoko was finally finished telling her the events of this past week and hoped it would be the last time she had to say it.

"Hmm." Kanae had to snap out of her sugar induced haze and she put on a frown. "And everyone agreed to this? What is he blackmailing you with?"

"I can't give you the details but it's about Ren's past. Please trust me that it doesn't affect me in anyway," she assured her.

Kanae was taken back. "What do you mean it doesn't affect you!? You are being forced to date a man you hate just to keep his secret. It isn't even about you, but you are obligated to protect it."

"Yes, but it's my fault that Sho even found it. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have looked into Ren's past. So he would have found something else to blackmail me with anyway, maybe something about you!" Kyoko eyes were full of shock and fear.

"Well you got me there. Though I doubt something from my past would be that big of a scandal." She watched her friend sigh with relief, "Is there anything I can do to help with Fuwa?"

Kyoko shook her head. "It will be over soon, and I have two dates with him this week and then three next week. I'm trying to squeeze in more but it's been difficult."

Kanae looked at her watch it was almost 8pm. "What are you going to do tonight? I'm guessing no dinner since you cooked."

"A concert." Kyoko shrugged. "I don't really care what he wants to do as long as I get that file." Kyoko stood up to do the dishes but Kanae stopped her.

"I'll do that. What time is he picking you up?" Kanae started to pick up the dishes and head over to the dishwasher. She noticed that all the food was already put away in tupperware and that there were four more of those daifuku. She closed her eyes and tossed a towel over the container blocking them from view.

"Actually he should be coming in soon. I should get ready. Make him wait if he knocks." Kyoko went out of sight into her room and shut the door. Kanae started to load the dishwasher. It would usually take a week of dishes to fill it up, but Kyoko actually cooked so it was half filled with pots, cutting boards, plates and bowls. She heard a knock at the door as soon as she started it up.

Kanae looked down the hall and noticed she hadn't come out yet. A cruel smile formed on her lips as she went to answer the door. She opened the door but hid behind it.

"Kyoko?" Sho stepped into the room and looked around for her. He wore a dark red long sleeve shirt with extremely light blue torn up jeans. Kanae closed the door behind him, and he turned to find a beautiful dark haired woman who stepped up to him and sucker punched him right in the solar plexus.

Sho went down. All the air was forced out of him and he gasped for some as his knees hit the floor. His hands cradled his gut and his eyes watered as he tried to breath.

"That is for all this bullshit you started, asshole," Kanae spoke through gritted teeth over the fallen singer. She watched him cough and take in large lungfuls of air.

"You…," gasp, "...must be…," gasp, "...Moko-san." He was on his hands and knees catching his breath.

She picked up her foot and grinded her heel on his right hand. "Only she can call me that."

He let out a painful groan, and she released his hand and walked away, "Sho-baka's here!" She yelled out and knocked on Kyoko's door before closing the door on her room. Kyoko exited the room, completely dressed. She wore a yellow jersey knit tunic that had intricate brocade cutouts around a cute heart between her breasts. It scrunched up a little around her breast then fell freely from under her bust. Two straps tied at the neck of the halter top. She wore simple skinny leg dark blue jeans and had simple black flats waiting at the door. She walked into the living room where Sho stood waiting at the door, flexing his hand a little.

"Is something wrong with your hand?" Kyoko was actually curious.

He shook his hand a little and frowned. "No, it's fine. You have um... interesting friends." He wasn't dumb enough to insult her only friend. If he wanted her back, he would have to deal with her friends as well.

Kyoko nodded. "Moko-san is wonderful!"

Sho shook his head not willing to argue that point and handed her two long stem roses. "For you," he told her. Again she took the flowers and said thank you. This time instead of taking it with her, she left them on the shelf where their shoes went. If she left them anywhere else, he probably would have brought them back like the last one she left in the car.

They arrived at Makuhari Messe for the concert, his concert, of course. Kyoko sighed but followed him through backstage. He gave her a VIP pass so no one would bother her and introduced her to his new manager.

All Sho introduced him as was, "My manager." Kyoko rolled her eyes. The man smiled and held out his hand to her. She put on a friendly smile and shook it. They were rough very rough; his knuckles were gnarled and felt large in hers.

"My name is Kimura," he introduced himself since his charge was so rude. He was young, probably fresh from college and attractive in a rough way, but he had a bandage the left side of his jaw. Her eyes were filled with concern causing him to smile.

"The bandage, right?"

Kyoko bowed down deeply. "I don't mean to offend, I'm so sorry!" Kimura looked at the pretty girl, and his eyes soften slightly as he smiled.

"No offense. I enjoy boxing on my free time. This was from a spar I had this weekend," he explained.

"Isn't that dangerous?" her eyes were widening, she had never met a boxer before.

"Na. I'm not in the pro circuit, so I'm not in any real danger. But if I was, I'd give them a run for their money" He lifted his arms in a fighting pose and started bouncing on the balls of his feet. She looked at him again and his suit stretched to accommodate his arms and shoulders as he quickly punched into the air a few times. He looked at Kyoko and blushed.

He looked down and nervously scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, I really love the sport."

Kyoko smiled brightly and asked, "Why aren't you in the pro circuit? You look like you'd do very well."

He laughed and lightly touched the bandage. "Yeah right, well I was for a few years but things didn't work out. I figured I try managing them instead. There are quite a few sports managers, so I had to take a different venue and here I am." He looked at the girl in front of him. She was cute and a good listener. And he was always a sucker for the sweet girls.

"What are you to Fuwa-san?" He asked.

Before she had a chance to answer, Sho put his arms around her shoulder and answered for her, "My date." Kyoko sighed, fighting herself not to shove him away.

Kimura raise his hands up in surrender and took a step back. "I was just curious."

"Well don't be," Sho spoke harshly and then left his dressing room to meet his adoring fans.

"Shall we go watch then?" Kimura held the door open for her, waiting.

"If we must," Kyoko walked out the door and headed towards the stage leaving Kimura confused at her statement. She leaned against the wall with her arms crossed over, her face looking bored as she watched him perform. He joined her, standing beside her and offered her a bottle of water. She smiled at him and bowed in thanks as she took the drink.

The concert went on, and it was great. Everyone was enraptured except for the two people to the side. Kyoko was watching but kept looking at her watch, and Kimura was watching her trying to figure this girl out. She didn't act like any of the other girls that hung around Fuwa nor was she his normal style. Most of the girls he had around him were sexy, very full bodied. Not that this girl wasn't attractive, he would most definitely want to get to know her better, but it didn't fit the puzzle.

It seemed like she was waiting for the concert to end, so she could go home. Then Fuwa did something he had never done before. He dedicated a song to "someone special" and then looked straight at her. Normally a girl would cry out and be completely teary eyed if someone like Fuwa did that to her but she did nothing. She didn't even smile.

The concert ended and Fuwa came running towards them. "Did you like the song?" he asked her.

She nodded and replied politely, "It was nice." Fuwa seemed pleased by it, and he took off to his dressing room to get ready to go home. The fans were shuffling out, and it would take a bit before they could leave. Kyoko heaved herself off the wall and slowly started to walk towards the dressing room.

"I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you do not act like his girlfriend," Kimura stated this as nicely as he could. She smiled at him. She smiled at him more than she did Fuwa.

"Oh? Well, I'm not. We are just 'dating'," Kyoko said the word dating as if she were doing chores. Her reply didn't really help anything at all in his mind.

"Usually one would be happier when they are dating someone, right?" He asked trying to cement the idea in his head.

She nodded. "Yeah. They should be, if they are with the right person." Her smile was sad this time but before he could ask her another question, Fuwa came out dressed and cleaned up.

"Alright, Let's go," Sho announced. She nodded and turned to look at Kimura again.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Kimura-san. Please take care going home tonight." She walked off with Fuwa beside her. He heard him ask if she liked the concert but she didn't seem to answer his question and instead she asked her own.

"Where's my next page?" Fuwa then proceeded to take a folded up piece of paper from his pocket and hand it to her. She opened it up and then tore it up, stuffing it into her jean pocket.

"Odd girl." Kimura shook his head and walked to his car.

Notes:

ichigo daifuku - a Japanese confection consisting of a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with sweet filling, most commonly anko, sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans. This one comes with a whole strawberry inside.

A/N: This was an especially fun chapter for me to write because of Kimura. He is a pro boxer from Hajime No Ippo. Granted I put him in a position he wouldn't do ever in his life but I saw that last name and I thought of him and had to write it as him.