Stepping out of the elevator, the dark haired actor checked his watch to find that he was early, despite his momentary feeling of panic when he realized how close he was cutting the meeting with the President that evening. Swiftly flying down the lengthy hallway on his long legs, Ren was greeted at the door by Lory's assistant, Sebastian, who bowed and greeted him, before opening the door to Lory's office.

As he walked inside, he took in the situation before him. Lory and Sai were sitting on opposite couches, with Lory doubled over in laughter and Sai watching him in amusement. The moment was quick and Lory soon shifted his position back up when Ren entered the room, nodding in greeting. Even in those few seconds though, Ren could see the closeness that the two people shared. Still, he couldn't put his finger on what the relationship was, but it seemed to be something that went deeper than even Ren had thought.

His gaze drifted over to the woman who was sitting opposite him, her hair having grown since they'd first met. It hung now to her shoulders, curling more naturally and brushing against the very tops of her shoulders. There were a few strands that hung in her face now and she tucked them behind her ear when Ren entered, looking up and nodding in recognition. Ripping his eyes away from her, he bowed before Lory and moved to sit down, nodding respectfully to Sai.

"Good evening, Mr. President, Ms. Akai." He said, sitting on a chair between the couches.

"Ren," Lory said to him, the smile from earlier still dancing on his lips, "How are you this evening?"

The actor nodded and said to him, "Fairly well, looking forward to having the night to myself for a change."

Sai raised her eyebrows at this, not expecting him to be so open about his opinions, especially around her, "Long day?" She asked, drawing his attention.

"Sort of; I'd say long week rather than long day." He ran a hand down his face and Sai noticed that he did look rather exhausted. Suddenly, she felt bad for asking him to come for the evening. To be fair though, she'd asked and he had accepted; no one had made him come.

"Well, we'll just have to go through this a bit quicker then, I don't want to take up any more of your night than we have to," Lory said matter-of-factly, and turned to face Sai before Ren could speak up.

"Good, I have Maria's ideas here," she handed him her planner, to which he looked up at her, impressed, and she waved his look away and motioned for him to just read it.

Going over any questions that Lory had, Sai finished up the plans to his content and then they set to work on arranging orders and coming up with numbers in terms of price. Ren watched in fascination as she easily threw around such large figures, and juggled brands, delivery, and pricing well. Unlike Lory though, price was a factor in her decisions. Sure the numbers she was listing were big, and Ren was surprised by her lack of reaction to them, but she got them down a fair ways before she was satisfied.

Ren only piped up very rarely, but when he did, the two would look at him like they'd just remembered he was there. As much as he found this strange, it was even weirder how easily they'd revert to it just being them. Resigning to being somewhat neglected in this meeting, Ren leaned back and watched them interact.

As they spent longer there, Sai began using the President's first name more and more often until it was the exclusive name she used. Tilting his head and watching her expressions, the actor was surprised to see her very relaxed and carefree in the President's company. It was truly a mystery. And Ren was determined to solve it.

Once they'd figured out a majority of the logistics of the party, Lory turned to Ren, "Now, if we design the invitations tonight, I can have them by tomorrow afternoon to hand out, do you think we should?"

Glancing at the time, Ren found that it was earlier than he'd thought, and he didn't mind staying the extra time, "Yeah, I think Maria would really love being able to hand them out tomorrow." He said, giving Lory a gentle smile.

With that, the three people got to work designing an overtly girly and fairy-like card, with Sai teasing Ren about his ability to make something so suited to the theme. He fought off her playful remarks, using knowing Maria for a long time as an excuse. All the while, Lory smiled and enjoyed their bickering, watching as they grew more comfortable in each other's presences.

After several hours of work, the party was planned, the orders were placed, the venue was booked, and the base invitation was completed. Admiring their work, the three LME members looked up with bright smiles on their faces, even Ren was pleased with how easily the whole ordeal had gone, despite being extremely tired. He listened intently as Lory told Sai where and when the invitations would arrive, and that Maria could come after school and the two could hand them out together.

He turned to Ren and asked, "Are you free then, Ren?" A hopeful, puppy dog look in his eyes.

Going through what Yashiro had told him earlier, Ren gave the President as sad smile and shook his head, "Unfortunately, I have a photo shoot then." He apologized to Sai for not being able to help and she waved her hands in front of her,

"Oh, don't worry about it, Maria and I were looking forward to some time, anyway." She smirked at him, "We've decided to have a girl talk without being trapped in an elevator."

Remembering the slightly hostile exchange they'd had after the blackout, a smile formed on Ren's lips and he tried to recall why he'd been so angry with her then. "That seems like so long ago already," he said, shaking his head.

"Hasn't even been a full month since then," Sai replied, a gentle grin on her own lips.

"Speaking of that though," the dark haired actor said, catching the redhead's gaze, "How's your back doing?"

"Oh!" She exclaimed softly, "Much better, I think I'm ready for a Maria hug already." Her smile grew, recalling how often the golden haired girl would launch herself into Sai's arms, and end up hurting her back.

"That's wonderful, I'm glad you weren't injured too badly," Ren said gently, as Lory looked between the two of them with interest. Seeing him raise his eyebrows, the actor decided he'd spent enough time with Sai in front of the President and stood. "Well, I think I'm going to head out now, would you like me to walk you out, Ms. Akai?" He asked politely.

Gathering her tote bag, Sai gave him a grateful smile, "That would be very kind of you, Mr. Tsuruga, I'd appreciate that."

With that, the two talents bowed before the President and bid him a good night. They walked toward the elevator and made light conversation, each glad that the week was almost over and looking forward to both the party and the coming of the weekend. When they reached the front doors, Sai gave him a gentle bow and said good night. He watched her leave, turning around a corner, her boots clicking softly against the pavement.

Sighing heavily and looking upwards, Ren stopped for a moment and let the tension in his chest go, knowing it had again come from his confusion towards the young redhead. He climbed into his car and started it, resting his head on the steering wheel for a moment. When he felt able to, he pulled away from the agency, heading to his apartment a bit faster than probably necessary.

When he arrived home, the actor immediately got out of his suit and slipped into his silk pajamas, resolving that he'd relax that night if it killed him. He made a quick meal out of the convenience store items in his fridge and poured a tumbler full of alcohol. Sitting in front of the tv, he lounged on his couch and tried his best to get his muscles to loosen.

After several episodes of whatever was on, Ren found that he couldn't totally unwind no matter he did. Something was nagging at the back of his brain. He was missing something. And for the life of him, he didn't know what it was.

Relenting, he let his mind wander to what he wanted most at the moment. After several agonizing seconds, his eyes drifted to his discarded phone and he realized with a start what that meant. Picking it up, before he could change his mind, he dialed Sai's number and let it ring.

"Good evening, this is Saiyuka Akai." Her soft voice drifted into his ear.

"Ah, Ms. Akai, I'm sorry to bother you so late," he said, immediately regretting this.

She paused for a few moments as she placed his voice, "Mr. Tsuruga? It's no big deal...what's up?"

"I just…" he paused for a moment, not knowing what to do at all. What was I thinking!? He screamed in his mind, "I just was wondering what you were doing, I suppose." He finished awkwardly.

Her silence stretched on the other end of the phone, until it rang sweetly as she let a laugh go, "Are you having trouble relaxing too?" She asked, her voice much more casual than even just a moment ago.

"A little, yeah...it feels like I'm forgetting something," he tried to describe.

"Like...there's something nagging at the back of your head and you just can't place it?" He blinked once in surprise as she described what he'd been feeling the entirety of the evening.

He sighed deeply into the receiver, "Precisely." And then the silence stretched again, and the awkwardness creeped back in.

"Well…" she said softly, clearly feeling just what he was, "I'm about to take a bath, I haven't had time to do anything but shower in a while, so I'm looking forward to it. Just waiting to finish this episode of whatever I have on, you know, priorities." She joked.

He chuckled softly at her remark, knowing just what that felt like, "I should probably do the same," he said, enjoying her casual attitude when he probably should have been a little insulted by it, "I'm not that big of a fan of baths though."

"I like them because it gives me an excuse to listen to music without Lory breathing down my neck about doing something besides lying around." She gave a gentle laugh, not really noticing that she'd just said something much more personal than Ren was expecting.

That means...not only does she know him well enough to refer to him as "Lory"...but he has a say in what she does in her free time...and it sounds like he's used to her wasting it...and she's used to his nagging...just what is their relationship!?

He was about to ask her when she said, "Oh, and there go the credits." It took Ren a moment to understand that she was talking about the show that she had been watching finishing, which meant that he was silent for longer than he intended to be, "Well, this has been some riveting conversation, Mr. Tsuruga, but I think I'm going to have to let you go," she said lightheartedly, in her teasing voice.

"Ah...yes, sounds good." He said softly, not really responding to her jab like she'd hoped he would. "Goodnight, Ms. Akai."

She gave a light laugh over the phone, "You as well, Mr. Tsuruga. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, she hung up. Ren put the phone on the couch and let another heavy sigh go that day. That went poorly, which was expected due to the fact that he'd just called her with no topic to discuss really. Thankfully, she seemed to understand the reason he'd called and it had been slightly less awkward.

Running a hand through his hair, Ren tried to understand what about her exactly puts him off his game so much. She wasn't overly brutish or whiney, she wasn't necessarily cruel or mean, she wasn't clingy or overbearing...she was gentle, slightly soft spoken, but wasn't afraid to show the sharp wit she had.

He supposed that perhaps that was what was so disturbing, but he often had to deal with teasing from his manager, and he handled that just fine. She was an enigma, that was for sure. But one day, one day he knew he'd understand her. As he decided this, he noticed something else. The unsettling feeling that had previously affected him and kept him from relaxing was completely gone. Strange.

The girl herself sat curled in front of her now dark tv, clutching her phone in her hand. She could hardly believe what had just happened. Ren Tsuruga had just called her out of the blue, for no reason, and she'd been taken completely aback. Somehow though...the longer she sat and thought about the exchange they'd just had, the more a light blush rose to her cheeks and an elation she hadn't been expecting washed over her. She was...happy he'd called. Suddenly, she realized that the nagging feeling in the back of her head was gone completely. Strange.

Getting up, she grabbed the remote that controlled her stereo system and jogged into her bathroom up the stairs. After setting up a couple of her favorite classical pieces, she slid into the warm bath and allowed herself to be completely immersed in the music. A light smile played at her lips as she remembered the times both that day and for the past week where she'd really managed to tease that pretty boy and watch him look at her with that surprised, blank face as he processed her words.

The smile grew on her glossy lips as she pictured it. It went so far against his usual facial expressions, and she rarely ever saw him make it around anyone but her. It was...something she had that no one else really did, and that made her heart beat a little bit faster to think about. As much as she'd disliked the man when they'd first met, she couldn't deny the respect that had grown for both his talent and his professionalism. If nothing else, he was incredible at what he did. And she figured that was why her actions in the same profession mattered so much to him. One day she'd drag herself around to fully explaining her current situation and why she so desperately wanted to act.

As Sai rose out of the bath, she got ready for bed, and, coincidently, Ren was at almost the same point in his night. Across the city, the two talents managed to take on similar routines, eventually lying down nearly at the exact same moment. Wrapping herself in her blankets, Sai nestled into the fabrics and allowed herself to completely relax.

Flopping elegantly onto his own mattress, Ren settled on top of his blankets, closing his eyes and breathing out as his muscles loosened completely. Together, they each found themselves wishing for similar things in the coming day: they wanted to see each other. The very thought made each of them smile, as they drifted to sleep.

The next morning found Maria sprinting through the lobby, as she knew that Sai should be in the Love Me dressing room by then. She burst in, just in time to watch the redhead pull her clothes out of the locker, ready to get out of her hot pink uniform. "Siiiiiiister!" She said loudly, flying across the room and into Sai's waiting embrace.

"Maria! It's so good to see you!" The talent said softly, giggling at the gold haired girl's behavior.

Before she could reply though, Maria realized something, "Oh! Sister! Your back!" The little girl jumped down from Sai's grasp and looked up at her in concern.

"I told you I was doing better, didn't I, Maria?" Sai tilted her head slyly, "Did you doubt me?"

"You're feeling better?" Maria questioned, her golden eyes lighting up with hope.

"Much." Sai said confidently, laughing as Maria fearlessly launched herself up again. "And how are you, young miss?"

"Ready to deliver invitations," she said with a sparkling in her eyes.

Sai tsked jokingly, "Did he tell you? That stinker." She said, referring to Lory.

"You called Grandfather a 'stinker'!" Maria laughed, "He's not going to like that."

The redhead made a shushing noise and said hushedly, "I've called him worse."

Gasping, Maria laughed again and Sai let her down gently, "Are you done with your assignments for the day?" She asked gently.

Nodding, the Love Me member said, "Yup! I was just about to get changed."

With Maria advising her on her outfit, Sai managed to get dressed in a short amount of time and she took the younger girl's hand as they headed out to pick the invites up from Lory's office. They got there in a timely manner and stood shocked at the sheer amount of envelopes sitting in his living space.

"Well…" Sai started, a little bit intimidated. "Let's get started, shall we?" She said, looking down at Maria with a glint in her eye.

"You think we can do this? Just the two of us?" Maria asked, shocked.

Sai's eyes lit up with a fire Maria wasn't used to seeing, "Oh I'm taking it as a challenge." The motivation that Sai had for the task proved to be contagious and Maria's face lit up when she found that Sai had a whole plan set in place already.

They started bringing bags to different floors, without running the invites, so that the bags of mail were already set out for them to begin with. Once they were all in place, the girls ran all over the building, laughing and playing games as they tackled endless floor after floor of running letters. The entirety of the time, both girls had huge smiles plastered on their faces and neither could remember the last time they'd enjoyed something so much.

After hours of running around, they brought the final two invites meant for LME members with them to the managing floor, finding both recipients in an office at the end of the hall. Peeking in, Maria saw the tall actor and ran for him, "Ren!" She hugged his legs, surprising him. Instantly, a smile appeared on his lips though, and he lifted her up.

"Maria! How has your day been?" He set her on the table in the room and gave her a gentle look, causing her cheeks to light up.

"My sister and I delivered all the invites in the building!" The little girl gestured to the door where Sai was leaning against and she gave a little wave.

"Good evening, you two." She said gently and then motioned for a seat.

"Ah, good evening Ms. Saiyuka," Yashiro said softly, "Do have a seat." He said, seeing her gesture. Her face filled with gratitude and she sat down with a sigh and leaned her head back. Suddenly, she looked a lot more exhausted than she had a few moments before.

"Sister? Are you okay?" Maria asked worriedly, not really expecting her to be so tired.

She gave a soft laugh, "Of course, Maria, I'm fine. I just haven't moved that much in a long while. I don't have all your energy." She poked the young girl's nose playfully and moved to unlace her boots.

"Did you say that you delivered...all the invitations for LME today? Just the two of you?" Yashiro asked, looking at Ren in shock.

"Yup!" Maria said with obvious pride, "Except for these two," she said softly, handing Ren the very last two invitations.

"Ours?" He asked, smiling at her softly.

Maria nodded vehemently and beamed at him, "We saved them for last."

"Don't forget about the ones we have to mail, Maria," Sai said softly, "And I can't take you to the post office tonight, as much as I wanted to. I have an assignment." She said, pulling off her boot.

"Oh I can take Mar-" Ren started to say, before noticing Sai's foot after she'd removed the shoe. There were large red stains through her socks.

"Oh, shit." Sai said under her breath, surprising Ren. That was the first time he'd ever heard her swear...it didn't suit her, but it was somehow...cute. He didn't really have time to think about that though, as she was very clearly bleeding pretty badly. "Man, I liked these boots," Sai said, tsking.

"That's what you're worried about?" Ren said a little too loudly, as Yashiro rushed around the table to see her foot.

"Ahh…" Maria exclaimed, looking up at Sai in fear, "I...I caused you to hurt yourself again," she said, tears forming in her eyes.

Hearing this, Sai actually laughed, surprising everyone in the room, "No, no," she waved her hand dismissively, "It's my fault for thinking I could run around for endless hours in these." Removing the other boot, it yielded similar results. After pulling off the socks, Yashiro began bandaging a few very serious blisters on her feet.

"How on earth did you manage to even walk here?" He asked her, trying to soothe the burning, bloody wounds.

Sai winked at him playfully, "I have a high pain tolerance." She said jokingly, wincing as he dabbed rubbing alcohol on the lacerations.

"Are you going to be able to work tonight with those?" Ren asked her, suddenly using a much more serious tone.

Looking at him pointedly, Sai actually scoffed, "Of course I will. You don't think I'm that unprofessional, do you?" She asked him, and though the actor knew she was teasing, he still was quiet for a moment as he realized he almost expected her to take the night off.

"I guess...I just didn't think that you valued this enough for it to matter. I figured you were killing more time." He said coldly, not really knowing where the hostility was coming from.

Everyone in the room turned to look at him, and Maria spoke up first, "What are you talking about, Ren?" She asked quietly, "Ms. Sai loves working here. She wouldn't let something like this stop her, she loves it too much."

"How do you know that for sure?" He asked her, still finding his tone to be chilly.

"I did an assignment with her, I watched her when she was working-"

"Ren." Yashiro said quietly, interrupting Maria, "Do you have any idea what her schedule looks like? How busy she is? What she takes on?"

Before Ren could reply, Sai herself spoke up, "You guys, it's fine. He'll figure it out when he wants to figure it out. Leave him be." She said, looking up at him haughtily, like she always did when he questioned her professionalism.

His eyes narrowed at her as he found it insulting that she spoke of him almost like he wasn't in the room, "Why do you say it like that?" He asked.

"Because you see what you want to see, Mr. Tsuruga," she said matter-of-factly, "So no matter what I do or what other people tell you about my work habits, you won't see or acknowledge them until you're ready to adjust your opinion. So I'll wait until then." With that, she slipped her newly bandaged feet back into the socks and boots, grimacing a little.

"You dare to-"

"You were about to say you'd take Maria to deliver the rest of her letters, right? Good. I'm counting on you," Sai said, cutting him off completely. "I'll head out then." She turned and gave Maria a gentle smile and a thumbs up, "Good job today, girlie, I'll see you soon, on Sunday for sure." As she scooped up her tote, glancing obviously over Ren, she bowed to Yashiro and said,

"Thank you for the first aid, Yashiro, I'll see to it that I take good care of the cuts tonight, so they don't get worse." She walked out of the door then, not looking back or making a single attempt to politely part with Ren, and they all knew that it had been on purpose. Even if her face hadn't shown it, she was furious with him.

Cautiously, Maria looked up slowly at Ren and said, "You know...when I first told Ms. Sai that you were coming to lunch with me, she told me she couldn't come, and when I asked her if it was because she disliked you, she told me that she didn't particularly mind you, but that you two argued a lot. And she didn't like that. When you're together though, I couldn't picture you guys arguing, and now that I've seen it, I don't like it either."

Ren stared at her in surprise before wondering to himself, She...said she doesn't dislike me? For some reason, that sole thought eradicated his anger in an instant. Before he could speak though, Maria continued,

"I know you said you don't hold any affection for her, Ren, but you look really happy when you get along with her. You smile a lot more and even laugh more often when she's around. You're more casual and gentle and you don't mind speaking your mind. I've never seen you act that way around anyone else." She looked at him with wide, glossy eyes, "But I don't like watching you yell at her. She's a beautiful, wonderful person and I love her very much. Please don't hurt her like that."

The tall actor felt his jaw drop as he listened to Maria's observations of him. He'd had no idea that he acted that way with Sai, and certainly wasn't expecting the little girl to go to her defense. This was the young girl who would set traps for his female costars, this was the same person who went out of her way all the time to spend time with him, defend him...and she'd chosen Sai this time. Easily, without even wasting a second.

Yashiro watched and listened in fascination to the events occurring in his office. When did Ms. Saiyuka and Ren go for lunch together?! He asked himself, What a waste! I could have teased him about that for so long! What was really shocking though, was how Ren seemed to have not noticed his actions, "Have you really not been paying attention to how you behave around her?" The manager asked his charge, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ren focused his gaze on his friend, shocked that he too was taking Sai's side in this...is this part of that strange ability she has? He wondered, shaking his head. "No...I didn't think I acted much differently." He said snippily, wanting desperately to get off this topic, as more and more instances of his unusual behavior popped into his mind.

"You do." Maria said, looking at him, "And I think you should apologize to her for being so rude."

Ren widened his eyes at her and didn't speak for a few moments, before forcing out of this throat, "And why do you think that?"

"Because you just went and assumed that she puts so little effort into her work! And told her that to her face, like you were angry with her! She loves this place, Ren, and you completely ignore that!" She huffed, waving a finger at him in annoyance.

Realising his mistake, Ren ran a hand down his face in frustration, "I...I know, I just...she makes me act out of character all the time. She confuses me so easily, without even trying."

Yashiro looked up at him in slight disbelief, "That sounds like love to me," he teased.

Maria lit up and clapped her hands together, "That's what I thought!" She exclaimed.

"It's not." Ren said definitively, shaking his head, "I just don't know what to do all the time, so I act strangely. She's just different than anyone I've met, she doesn't follow society's standards. It's not that I hold special feelings, in fact, it's pretty annoying." He said honestly.

Maria looked a bit crestfallen, but she hopped off the table she was on and turned to face him, "So, you'll apologize to her, right?" she asked softly.

"I will, yes." Ren relented, seeing that he had been in the wrong, "Now, let's head to the post office, Maria, they close soon. We need to get these out." With that, he grabbed his coat and walked out the door before the conversation could be dragged out any further, not wanting to feel the tension in his chest any longer when he thought of the red headed female.