Ren was trying to say something to Kyouko; they had finished playing a skit a while ago in front of the audience. Ren had taken his eyes off of her for a moment as he attempted to extract himself from the grip of a thousand girls, each one trying to confess to him, and when he returned he found she was acting abnormal. More so than usual.

"Setsu!"

"Oh, Hi Ren-tan" Kyouko slurred.

He was definitely worried now, "Setsu, what have you been drinking?" She lifted her glass quizzically at him and he leaned forward to take a deep whiff. Yep, It had alcohol; likely source, the fruit punch bowl that contained a concoction of lemonade soda and sweat-white-wine. He cursed himself for allowing the drink to pass through his radar. Now, he was trying to remember how many glasses she consumed in the past hour; he couldn't say.

"Setsuka, I think you might be drunk."

"Couldn't be… I feel fine Nii-pyon." Well, at least she was talking in character again…

"We're going now, Setsu! I need to get you home." He lifted the giggling Kyouko and cradled her in his arms. Ren was making his way through the door and into the parking lot when he saw Yashiro. The poor manager was standing outside of the car, every once in a while wincing at some dark figure trapped inside.

"Yashiro, get inside the car. We're leaving." Yashiro jumped startled and turned around sheepishly.

"I'm sorry Ren; he would have taken off after you into the party if I didn't trap him. I really didn't mean for this to happen."

Ren wasn't too concerned until he looked at the damage to the inside of his car. There were teeth-marks on the steering wheel, teared upholstery, and the windows were full of long wet streaks. A pink tongue darted against the passenger side door and the owner of the offending body part glanced outside to see Ren with Kyouko.

"Woof!"

"Damn it!"

Ren shooed the dog away and strapped Kyouko into the seat; he entered the driver's side and sighed as he collapsed forward in exhaustion. When Yashiro opened the back door he was glared at viciously and promptly closed it.

"Lovely night for a walk," he turned and whistled. Yashiro might have failed in babysitting duties but he also wanted to allow his friend the chance to deal with one heck of a mess.

"I can't bring you home like this." Ren seethed out loud. Kyouko was to far gone to notice his conversation. In fact she was ruffling his hair and was troubled as he attempted to extract her from him. She pouted and leaned against the side of the door, crossing her arms, a drunken haze glare was sent at him.

"Brother, why can't I touch you."

"I need you not to right now," but she leaned forward and started patting his head like he was a dog.

Him and a drunk Kyouko alone together… Very bad.

'Kyouko, please keep your hands off of me. I need to drive.'

Ren, after a long car ride, pulled up to the front of Daruyama and Jun hopped out to follow him.

"You better behave yourself," he warned, "you're meeting the adoptive parents of Kyouko."

The dog heeled behind Ren as he knocked on the door juggling a drunk Kyouko in his arms. He heard footsteps echo inside and Taisho's Wife popped her head outside.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed and stepped to the side so that the two could enter.

"Hi, Okaasan!" A very drunk Kyouko exclaimed.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but I'll explain everything as soon as Kyouko is safe in bed."

The couple watched as the man walked upstairs and dropped Kyouko off. The dog remained at the bottom of the stairs and laid down waiting for him to return. When he came back down he was sharply eyed by the Wife; her husband had his back to him and was in the kitchen. Ren heard the long slice of a blade being sharpened.

"Is that one of Kyouko's characters she's been playing recently?" the wife prodded. The dog hopped up and strode towards her; she allowed a couple of pats on the head before she glanced back at Ren.

"Yes, she is playing the role of a character named Setsuka Heel. She was asked to attend a party tonight and entertain the guests using that role."

"Was she alone?" Taisho called out from the kitchen.

"No, I was there with her. I'm playing the role of her brother."

"Why is she drunk?" It sounded like a statement.

Finally they had reached the main question. Ren shivered at the man's tone yet admired the protection and love he held for Kyouko, "A waiter didn't realize that Kyouko was a minor; I didn't notice until it was too late. He had been bringing her several glasses of hard-lemonade from the punch bowl throughout the night."

Taisho nodded, he was appeased but not pleased. "Thank you, for bringing her back here. Now may I ask, who you are to her?"

"I'm her senior; I've been given the privilege of overseeing her development in the world of show-business." He paused when he realized the man didn't mean the question in that sense. "I love her," he finally admitted, "I might not have confessed it to her yet; but I love her." his eyes glanced up the stairs to where she was resting in her room.

The wife squealed. She didn't notice the stand-off between her husband and the man that had suddenly proclaimed his interest concerning Kyouko. Taisho considered Kyouko like the daughter that he never had, and he'd be damned if he gave her away to just any gutsy that came in off the streets.

"She needs to stay here tomorrow so that she can recover from drinking. You will be here for dinner; is that clear?"

Ren nodded and tried his best to smile; however, he heard an underlining promise in Taisho's words.

'I'm only just greeting my girlfriend's parents and declaring my intentions. I need to work more on my priorities. I'd have to have a death wish to announce that I've been staying with their daughter alone in a hotel room. Way to go Ren, and better yet, I have done all of this even before I've confessed to Kyouko.'

The next day was miserable. The rain poured continuously, a typhoon warning was put in place. Everyone found it odd; it was nowhere even close to the season for it. Everyone steered clear of the shores as an ominous feeling seemed to pass over all of Japan. Ren looked out the window; he hoped that his luck would not be affected by the weather.

Jun was whining, asking where Kyouko was, when he did not receive an answer the dog slinked off to be by himself. He preoccupied himself with one of Ren's leather shoes on his bed. Ren sat down and glanced at the clock.

'Only three hours away,' he dreaded, 'what do I say; how do I act? What will I wear?' Ren paced the halls of his bedroom trying to search for an outfit. He soon noticed that one of the pairs to a set of shoes was missing. He wasn't pleased to find it dismantled and slobbered over. The dog watched him closely, now that he had Ren's attention he pranced over to the door begging to be taken out.

'That's not the most polite way to ask for help!' Ren; however, was pleased with the distraction.

'Keep calm, Kyouko wouldn't let Taisho kill me, right?'

Ren started to get ready. He couldn't believe how stressed he felt and the dog wasn't making it any better. He had to figure out where his clothes kept disappearing off to until he checked the mongrol's bed. Setsu had kept her end of the promise; the dog hadn't dared chew up the luxurious fibers of the mattress.

He looked at the clock and fretted even more, 'Do I arrive early or on-time, will it even matter?'

He decided to arrive ten-minutes early. With that thought Ren fed the dog it's dinner, the hound didn't appear to be to amused with Ren. It was time to head out; so Ren hopped into his car and made his way to Kyouko's house. Nothing to terrible could go wrong; or could it?

Kyouko woke up with the worst headache she ever had in her life. She groaned just as Taisho's wife walked in with orange juice and medicine.

"How are you feeling, dear?"

"I have a terrible headache and I can't remember much of what happened yesterday. Did I get into an accident?" Kyouko asked wincing at the pounding pain.

"Of sorts, you accidentally drinked alcohol last night; and by the state you are in, I'd have to say you took in quite a bit to much." She responded warmly as she stared at Kyouko.

"I'm sorry if I have caused any trouble, I didn't mean to-" Kyouko cut off as she shifted forward to bow. Her head swam for a few minutes before it settled down.

"Now Kyouko, don't worry about a thing. We are definitely not troubled, you should focus on getting better right now. We are having company later on today."

"Whose coming?"

"Your lovely Sempai, what was his name… Tsuruga-San. He was the one that brought you here late last night." She smiled and glanced at Kyouko to monitor her reaction.

Kyouko froze; she glanced up and said, "I'm sorry; did you say Tsuruga-san?" The older woman gave a brisk nod.

"How could I have troubled him like this; he already hates me! He's going to be so disappointed with me. I'm an actor; how could I not have taken care of my body!" She was launched into a whole new train of thought, "I'm late to work!" Her voice choked as a new horror washed through her. She didn't even hear Taisho's wife calling to her at first.

"Kyouko, it's okay. Tsuruga's manager has already phoned your workplace. They are under the impression that you are merely sick." Kyouko relaxed and again had to wait through the pounding headache in order to respond.

"Thank you so much," Kyouko managed to get out.

"Don't you fret over it. It's still early in the morning. I'll come again later and you should be feeling better by then. Tsuruga-san is coming over at six to join us for dinner."

"Dinner."

"Yes, now get on back to sleep. I'll come wake you up again a little bit later. We all need to be ready and Taisho might need your help in the kitchen."

She watched as Kyouko relaxed and drifted off to sleep. Kyouko had said some disturbing things but she knew that the lady was a bit odd; however, why would she think that Ren would might even begin to hate her. The poor man was head-over-heel's in love with Kyouko. Ren had the vomit stains running down his clothes to prove it.