Week 11

Kyoko plopped into bed as soon as she got home. She couldn't walk another step. All three women were so excited about the prospect of shopping with someone else's money that they went to Mandy right away to find dresses. They stayed there trying on different dresses for hours. In the end, they did find something for each of them.

It was the first time Kyoko did that. Sure, the three of them went thrift store shopping together previously but this was a different experience. It was great getting to see her two best friends dress up in gorgeous outfits. She even felt beautiful herself in several of the dresses she tried. Kyoko couldn't wait to wear the dress she bought for the ball.

But before then, she needed to sleep. Then in the morning, it was time to write her article. Kyoko looked over at Jack who was sleeping on her pillow. She crawled up next to him not even bothering to change and passed out with him.


Kyoko decided to focus her article on the police department and its role within the city. There was the obvious piece of fighting crime but she learned about additional aspects to the job. As much as she loathed thinking about Sho, he participated in the school festival along with other officers. Their presence added security to the event. Ren also showed her another side of his job at the courts. Not only does he play a role in catching criminals, but also in making sure they get convicted.

She dedicated Saturday to writing down all her thoughts, gathering information that supported what she learned, and writing her first draft. It was exhausting, and she found herself once again collapsing into her bed that night.

On Sunday, she looked back over her article and made edits. She went through a few drafts before she was happy with it.

"Well Jack, I think I finally have a winner," she told him sipping her coffee from a travel mug while petting him. She liked to lay on her bed while working on her computer. He was beside her for most of the weekend. Sometimes laying on top of her or the laptop. He didn't like the computer getting the attention he felt he deserved. To distract him, she would bring out a grudge demon for him to play with. That didn't always work.

But now she was done. It was sent off to the boss. No more tweaking and revising. She could just lay in her bed and relax. She folded her arms and rested her head on them as she closed her eyes for just a few minutes.


She was laying in her bed with her belly round and huge. Her feet were incredibly sore. Someone was in her apartment cooking for her. He was always there taking care of her so she didn't strain herself too much. He brought her over a plate with an omelet on it for her to eat. Sitting up, she took the plate from him and started eating. He sat at the foot of the bed and started massaging her poor, aching feet. It was the most amazing thing she'd ever felt.


Kyoko woke herself up with an audible sigh. She groaned as she realized the foot massage was just a dream and not real. It was so good she literally sighed herself awake. If only someone would do that for me. What a dream.

While the massage was great, the size of her belly in that dream not so much. Am I really going to get that big? She wondered to herself lifting up her shirt to look at her stomach. It was still pretty normal. She got out of bed to look at herself in the bathroom mirror. Still no visible changes. She checked herself from both the front and the sides. It would be great if I stayed this size the whole pregnancy. Deciding it was a good idea to stop being vain, she walked over to her couch and turned on the tv. Now that she was done with her work, she could Netflix binge for the rest of the day.


Week 12

Ren was drinking a glass of whiskey trying to mentally prepare himself for the next day. He had to attend the City Council Ball. There were far more important things for him to be doing like trying to catch a serial killer. But he wasn't allowed to officially work on that case yet. And as much as he would rather be working on a case than attend the ball, he had to show up for public morale. The event was going to have TV crews there conducting interviews and live broadcasting. Everyone in attendance would have the same goal of showing civilians that we would get through the crime wave and we were all working together for it to happen. His job was to represent the detectives and others of the force who wouldn't be there.

He couldn't skip out on this party like he did the one three months ago when he got drunk and had his first hook up in ages with a woman who suddenly showed back up in his life a few weeks ago. He still couldn't believe they crossed paths again. Thankfully, she didn't recognize him. It would be incredibly awkward if she did.

Ren opened the top drawer to his desk and saw the small gift he bought. It was a random purchase. He didn't even know when he would see her again. Since she had a habit of just popping up, maybe he should just carry it on him always. They would see each other again. Even though their first two encounters were by chance, they would never be strangers to each other again. He would see her many times more and be teased by her seductive scent.


Kyoko woke up Tuesday morning instantly remembering what big event was happening in the evening. She jumped out of bed in her excitement and rushed to the bathroom to start getting ready. The rush caused her stomach to flip. Instead of starting her morning routine, she puked as soon as she got into the bathroom. Right, gotta get up slowly now. She discovered that moving too fast in the morning made her more nauseous. If she got herself ready slowly and gave her body time to adjust to being awake, she was less likely to be sick. Some mornings she even managed not to throw up.

She got up from kneeling in front of the toilet, flushed it, and grabbed her toothbrush. She lazily brushed her teeth for a few moments before gasping at her appearance in the mirror. She gripped both sides of her sink and leaned in close to the mirror to get a better look. Her face was covered in a bad acne break out. How did this happen? And why today? She didn't usually have much acne. At worst, just a pimple or two once in a while. But her face was covered in zits and red splotches.

Once she finished brushing her teeth, she grabbed her makeup supply and covered up her facial imperfections as best she could. She didn't have a lot of practice putting her makeup on this heavy so it might not look the greatest. But that's still better than all that acne!


Kyoko was riding the bus over to Rika's house. The three friends worked until three in the afternoon helping out different seniors at LoveMe. Kyoko worked with the same one who sent her to the pawnshop to look for the set of daggers. It was a good opportunity to ask him the questions Ren had about the case. He texted her the weekend following their week together to see if she could get more information on why her senior thought the man on trial was innocent even though all the evidence pointed to him. She didn't have a chance to talk with him until now.

He didn't have much to say, just that a whole set of daggers proves someone else could have easily had the same weapon. It was a strange explanation. The woman's blood was found on the dagger in custody so it was definitely the weapon used in the crime.

She took advantage of the bus ride to text Ren what she found out. 'My senior doesn't have a good reason for why he thinks the man on trial is innocent. He thinks the weapon being part of a set is enough reason for there to be reasonable doubt. I don't think he's very familiar with how investigations work', Kyoko texted out on her phone and sent off.

She got an almost immediate response of 'Okay, thanks.' She wasn't expecting such a fast response from him and was surprised when her phone vibrated. She tapped her phone against her chin wondering if there was anything else she needed to tell him while he was paying attention to his phone.

It didn't take her long to realize there was something else to tell him. She tapped out, 'Oh, I was invited to the ball on Friday by my boss. See you tonight!'

His response came back just as fast. 'Great! See you tonight.' Her heart warmed a little at the idea of getting to see him all dressed up in formal attire. Too bad there wouldn't be an occasion for him to pretend to be her boyfriend and kiss her while all dressed up...

Kyoko! Don't you dare go down that road! She scolded herself as she suddenly stood up in shock at her thoughts. The bus came to a stop at that moment and she flopped back in her seat making a spectacle of herself. See? This is why we don't think about such things. Only trouble comes from thinking about that stuff.

She got off the bus thoroughly pushing Ren from her mind and found herself in an extremely rich neighborhood. I know Rika is loaded, but this is a street of mini mansions. Just how rich is she?


Sorry, it's a short chapter. I had a hard time writing this week. I didn't get to post any of the oneshots that were requested either. I did start the Tangled one and will get it posted once it's done.

Did the texting make more sense this time? I know last time I tried writing a text conversation between the two it confused some people. I hope it was easier to follow this time around.

Girl time is coming this next chapter. I skipped the shopping scene because I don't like shopping and didn't want to write about it haha. Descriptions of the dresses will be given either in this next chapter or the following.

I hope you're all safe during this pandemic. This story will continue through this mess so at least you'll have one thing to look forward to. And I'll get those oneshots out as soon as I can. Hopefully, the Tangled one will be out this coming week.

Thanks for all your comments!

-Besma0003