Week 12

After walking up and down the street gawking at the gorgeous houses with their big fences, Kyoko finally walked up to the correct house. She pressed the gate buzzer. The door immediately clicked open and Kyoko walked through to head up the large driveway towards the big white house. The grass looked like it was watered regularly with its stunning green color. Kyoko didn't know the city had an area like this. She'd only ever seen the parts where people were packed in like sardines (like her apartment) or living in an industrial area. This level of richness was new to her.

She passed two large fountains, one on each side, as she headed up the driveway. They had horses in their centers up on their hind legs. The water was streaming out of the mouths. Kyoko stopped to look at them briefly. The detail of their physiology was exquisite. The muscles looked like they were rippling just under the skin. She would have reached out to touch them but the basins of water were too large for her to get close. The basins were made out of white brick. Kyoko figured they were about her length in diameter. The statues were stunning. Kyoko looked to the house ahead of her curious as to what other sights she would see in the house.

She left the fountains behind and made her way quickly to the house. A butler greeted her at the door and showed her in. "Ms. Rika is in her room upstairs with Ms. Kanae already. I'll show you up," he told her. The butler was younger than Kyoko expected. He looked around her age, not some old man. He led the way up a staircase that was just inside the door. It curved to the left as they went upstairs. She couldn't help but marvel out the stairs. The steps were a beautiful mahogany and the railings matched. The railing was supported by white pillars that were a few inches apart all the way up to the top. As she walked up sliding her hand along the rail, Kyoko noticed how smooth it was. She couldn't help but think it was a real princess staircase.

At the top of the stairs, they went left to the room at the end of the hall. The butler called through the door, "Ms. Rika, Ms. Kyoko is here."

Kyoko felt a little awkward at being announced instead of just knocking and saying she was there. She didn't have much time to think about it as Rika pulled her bedroom door open wide beaming at her. "Great! Come on in, Kyoko," she said grabbing her hand and pulling her into the room. The door closed behind them as Kyoko gaped at her friend's room.

She had a four poster bed at the edge of the room made from a dark stained oak. The curtains and bedding were a matching light peach to offset the darkness of the wood. A vanity was to her left near the door. Light bulbs were all around the mirror lighting up the space. The desk portion was elegant with sides that looked like mirrors and diamond and crystal down the front.

Kyoko continued to gape as she looked to her right. The wall opened up to another room that was down a few steps from their current level. The second room had a large u-sectional couch against the left wall with a TV on the opposing wall. At the back of the room were several bookshelves, a few comfy seats, and a glass coffee table.

As they continued towards the bed where Kanae was sitting, Kyoko noticed a door beyond the wall opening on the right. She was able to see in and noticed it was a master bathroom. Kyoko found herself almost salivating at the idea of spending time in this space.

"Now that you're here, we can start getting ready," Kanae said standing up from the bed to meet them.

"Do we really need this long?" Kyoko asked. "The party isn't for another several hours." She looked at her two friends surprised by their look of pity.

"Oh, Kyoko," Rika said. "We are getting three beautiful women dressed up to make men's mouths drop, we're gonna need a lot of time," she informed her. "First are showers for each of us. This house has plenty of bathrooms for us to shower at the same time. I've made sure products are placed in each of them. Once you're showered, come back here and we'll start getting ready," Rika told them leading them back to the door. "And don't worry, once Mark shows you to the other bathrooms he'll stay downstairs. So come back to the room in your towels instead of putting your clothes from the day back on," she continued while opening the door. "Mark, show them where they can get cleaned up." He was waiting outside the door for them. Now that Kyoko wasn't busy gawking at the house, she was able to take a closer look at him. He was tall with long, jet black hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail. He was filled out but Kyoko guessed that took work. He looked like the type who would have been tall and gangly as a teenager.

Kanae and Kyoko followed Mark as Rika headed back inside her room presumably to shower. He led them to a room just down the hall and dropped Kyoko off there. The room wasn't as big as Rika's. It was just a bedroom. It looked like a hotel room with its cleanliness and furniture, an expensive hotel room. This room also had a master bath. Kyoko undressed leaving her clothes on the queen-sized bed and walked to the bathroom. She was a little confused looking at the shower. It was a little box essentially. One side was the door that she opened, the other three sides had three circular pieces going down vertically as well as a little lever above each set. Kyoko had no idea what they were for. The wall opposing her had the temperature knobs. She turned the heat first and was shocked when the water came straight down.

The shower head was on the ceiling dropping the water straight down on her. Before it got too hot, she turned the cold on. She fiddled with the temp until it was just right and hopped in shutting the door behind her. The hot water felt great. It was like it was washing her worries away. Kyoko looked again at the little levers on each wall followed by the three circular pieces. She turned the lever in front of her and was shocked when water came straight at her. It wasn't streaming in her face but at her chest level and below.

She didn't know this was a thing. Kyoko quickly looked at the other levers and turned them. She ended up with water coming down from the ceiling and at her from the three sides. It was a marvel. She couldn't help but revel in it. This is an amazing shower.


After her shower, Kyoko dried off as best she could with the towel. She wrapped it around her and walked to the room door. She peeked out to make sure Mark or anyone else wasn't around. Once she confirmed the coast was clear, she darted back to Rika's room not bothering to knock and just entering.

Rika was standing there with a towel in her hair and another one wrapped around her core. "Hey, Kyoko," her friend called over. "I just got out of the shower myself. Do you want to help me grab the dresses from the closet so we can choose the right nail colors and makeup to go along with them?"

"Sure," Kyoko stammered. She was a little taken aback by how casual Rika was about hanging out in towels together. Because all of the girls were jealous of her relationship with Sho growing up, she'd never spent time like this with other women.

Kyoko followed Rika down the few steps into the living room and noticed a door on their left. It was a partial door, perhaps gate was the best way to explain it. It reminded Kyoko of those old west movies where people walked through a swinging mini door to enter a saloon. The door was like that, except white, clean, and all around rich looking. On the other side was a walk-in closet. Rika passed her one dress and grabbed another for herself. "Let's only take one at a time so we don't wrinkle them. There are hooks on the bed we can hang them from," Rika told her. Kyoko carried the dress in its protective plastic covering to the bed and hung it on a hook.

Rika went to grab the third one while Kyoko waited there. Kanae came in through the door wearing a towel while she was waiting. "Looks like I'm the last one done," she said coming in closing the door behind her.

"We've pulled out the dresses already," Rika said coming back into the bedroom holding the last dress. She put it up on another hook.

Kanae walked to the bed to join her friends and went to her dress. She fingered it a bit enjoying the feel of the material and its beauty. "It's too bad we're getting all dressed up like this without dates to drool over our hard work," she said turning to her two friends.

"Actually, we do," Rika told them earning a shocked look from both Kanae and Kyoko.

"Since when? Who?" Kyoko managed to ask in her surprise.

"I told Boss we couldn't attend a party like this without escorts. We don't have enough social standing to arrive dateless. Only those powerful enough to make statements with there mere presence can arrive dateless," Rika informed them.

"So who are we going with?" Kanae asked.

"Those we worked with over the past three weeks, Hiou, Ren, and Yukihito," Rika said nonchalantly as she turned away from them hiding a smile. "Those three will make excellent escorts, don't you think?" She said turning her head back to them now that her face was schooled.

"I guess," Kanae said sounding uninterested.

"Um, yeah," Kyoko said a little more nervously.

"Shall we get ready?" Rika said turning fully back to them and clapping excitedly.


They started off with pedicures and manicures. Rika was familiar with these types of events and made sure her friends were just as dolled up as everyone else. The process gave them ample time for chit chat which she was fully intending to take advantage of.

"So Kyoko," she said while they were soaking their feet in the seats next to the bookshelves. "It seems like you've gotten rather close to Ren." She let her words hang in the air while she waited for her friend to respond.

"Yes, we worked well together," Kyoko said smiling at her. "He helped me out afterward too with the school incident and the stalker."

"How are you doing after all that?" She asked putting her interrogation on hold for a minute while she made sure Kyoko was okay. Being exposed and stalked all in the span of a few days was a lot to go through.

"I'm okay," Kyoko said. "I didn't think about it much this past week to be honest," she told her.

"That's good. I'm glad you didn't let those events get to you. Of course, if those things were bothering you, I'm sure there's someone who would be willing to help you feel more at ease," Rika said turning the conversation back to her interrogation.

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked her looking confused.

"I mean a tall, dark, handsome someone who carries a badge and picks up the phone whenever you call and ignores all other calls," Rika said teasingly. Kyoko continued to look at her confused. "Ren," she said bluntly since the girl clearly wasn't getting it on her own.

"What do you mean?" She repeated still looking confused.

"I mean he's got the hots for you," Rika told her exasperated. "Did you not notice?"

"I think you're confused," Kyoko told her. "There's no way he's interested in me. I'm way too plain and boring."

Rika frowned at her friend's words. "What on earth makes you think that?"

"You should probably tell her what happened," Kanae said. She'd kept quiet during the conversation so far preferring to sit back and relax.

"Tell me what?" Rika asked. She noticed a few times during their conversations that there was something she didn't know that had a big impact on Kyoko. She was eager to finally find out what that was.

Kyoko sighed before starting her story. "I used to date an officer by the name of Sho Fuwa. I grew up in his household and followed him to the city. He wanted to be famous, still does. So he tried to investigate the missing children's case from a few months back. He couldn't get any leads so I helped him. I found the kids. Instead of giving me credit, he dumped me." She paused for a moment before continuing, "that night is the same night I got pregnant from a drunken one-night stand." She looked down at her stomach as she said the last line. She was wearing a tank top and shorts now. After they all showered, Rika took out some clothes for them all to put on while they got ready.

"I didn't realize it was that night," Kanae said contemplatively.

"I'm still a little confused. That guy's a jerk. What does that have to do with you not being attractive enough to attract Ren Tsuruga?" Rika asked.

"He said I was plain and unattractive. Just during the shadow assignment these past three weeks, at least two others have spoken the same words," Kyoko told her two friends.

"Who?" Kanae said sitting up for the first time in their conversation from her relaxed position.

"Ah, Eiji and Mimori," Kyoko said.

Kanae scoffed upon hearing the names. "Of course Eiji would say something like that. Kyoko," she said turning to her friend looking at her determinedly, "ignore Eiji. He's an idiot. He wouldn't know what beauty was if it hit him up beside the head. His upper head is guided by his lower head. Men like that don't have worthwhile opinions."

Rika watched as Kyoko gave Kanae a small smile in appreciation. She doesn't believe her. She thinks she's just being a good friend. She thought about the other name mentioned and had a realization. "Wait a second, Mimori is the one who was hanging off of the officer at the church…that was Officer Fuwa!" Kyoko nodded in reply. "Mimori is jealous of anyone Officer Fuwa could have an interest in, you can't go off of her comments either."

"She doesn't know my connection to Sho. The first time she met me she stared and said I wasn't nearly as interesting as you," Kyoko told her. Anger flared in Rika at hearing those words. The look of hurt on Kyoko's face was painful to see. She knew women typically didn't trust other women's opinions of their looks. For some reason, women only listened when men validated their beauty. If that was the case, she would make sure there was at least one man drooling over her tonight.

"Kyoko," Rika said drawing her attention from her thoughts. "Would you believe us that you're beautiful if a certain someone called you beautiful tonight?"

"What do you mean?" Kyoko asked her confused.

"Ren," Rika stated plainly. "I promise you he will be swept away by your beauty tonight. Would you believe us that you're beautiful if he tells you?"

"What? He would never be interested in me," Kyoko said in protest with her cheeks a little pink. Hm, so she is at least a bit interested in him back. "Why on earth do you think he would be?"

"I told you, he answered all your calls. When I was with him, he ignored his phone if it wasn't obviously work," Rika said.

"It's true," Kanae piped in. "When the incident on stage happened, he was furious. I was a little afraid he was going to explode," Kanae told them.

"He was mad at me for thinking about revenge," Kyoko told them rolling her eyes.

"No, this was before we left the precinct to go pick you up. Before he knew about what you were planning to do to get back at Sho," Kanae said.

"Oh," was all Kyoko said. It looked like she was processing that he might have actually gotten mad on her behalf.

"See? He likes you. Although, I'm not sure he realizes that himself, to be honest," Rika added. He didn't act like a man with a crush otherwise. His behaviour towards Kyoko was just different than how he acted towards anyone else.

"How can you realize something that someone doesn't know themself?" Kyoko asked her.

"Oh, it's easy. I'm sure you've done it before. Like with Hiou," Rika said changing the topic. She'd picked on Kyoko enough. Now it was Kanae's turn.

"Oh!" Kyoko said excitedly. Looks like she noticed it too.

"What about Hiou?" Kanae asked them.

"He likes you," Kyoko blurted out happy about the change of subject.

"I think you're confused," Kanae replied coolly.

"He was definitely asking about you when I was there," Rika told her.

"Same with me," Kyoko added. "It's pretty obvious he likes you."

"You're both crazy. He's too busy with work to think about relationships," she told them.

"If you say so," Rika said knowingly.

"What about you?" Kanae shot back. "You've told us both about our romantic prospects. Who's on your mind?"

"Oh," Rika said smiling slyly. "I have someone in mind."


Ren was waiting outside of his apartment for the limo. Yukihito lived in the same building and would be down soon. Arriving at the ball in a limo with a date was not what he was expecting when he woke up this morning. Lori Takarada gave him a call to inform him of the plans shortly after he woke up. Lori wasn't his boss like Rori was, but they were both his Godfathers and were always there for him. It was impossible for him to deny the request. Plus, he would be going with Kyoko and her friends who were all good people. The night would probably be more fun with them around.

He checked his phone for the time and noticed a warning for heavy rain later in the evening. He looked up at the sky. It was still light out with minimal clouds for now. Maybe the forecast would be wrong.

Yukihito walked out of the building a moment later and joined Ren. "I can't believe we're riding in a limo. Seems a bit overkill," he said as he got close.

"This is Lori's pet project, you know how he likes to go overboard," Ren responded.

"So I've learned," Yukihito said with a slight nod. The closer Ren became to Yukihito the better his friend got to know his two Godfathers. He'd seen first hand how eccentric Lori could be.

"The limo should be here any minute," Ren said checking the time on his phone again. "We'll go pick up the mayor's grandson before we head to get the ladies."

"The mayor's grandson?" Yukihito asked confused.

"He worked with the girls these past few weeks too and agreed to be an escort as well," Ren told him.

"Huh, I've never met him before. I wonder if he's as stubborn as everyone says," Yukihito responded.

"We'll find out," Ren said as the limo finally pulled up. The two men got in and appreciated the space inside. The seats were white leather. A small cooler was off to the side with beverages in it and glasses on a stand next to it.

Yukihito whistled before saying, "this is a nice ride. Is Lori renting this?"

"I believe it's Rika's," Ren told him. "She comes from a wealthy family."

"Really?" Yukihito asked looking at him surprised. "I didn't realize that. She has money along with beauty and brains." He said the last bit under his breath but Ren still heard him.

He cocked an eyebrow as he asked, "interested?"

Yukihito looked over at him. "Who wouldn't be? She's bright and a beauty." A small smile spread across his lips as he looked at Ren. "Well, it makes sense that you didn't notice since your eyes are already focused on someone else," he teased Ren.

Ren looked at him confused, "Who?"

"Kyoko of course," Yukihito told him still smiling.

"What are you talking about?" Ren asked him genuinely confused.

"Ren, she's the only woman I've ever seen you take a step back from and you take all of her calls. Not to mention you run to her defense whenever she is in trouble," Yukihito pointed out to him.

Ren groaned before replying, "that was one time. I was startled by something. And of course, I help her out. She's been stalked and had someone expose her on live tv. What kind of a man would I be if I didn't help her out in those situations?"

"Ren, as your friend, I'm telling you, you have an interest in her. And that's fine, a good thing even. Why won't you embrace the fact that you're attracted to her?" Yukihito asked him.

Ren stared at his friend a moment before responding. "I don't have the right to be attracted to anyone. I just need to focus on work." He spoke with a dangerously low tone to cut off the discussion. Yukihito didn't miss it.

"Fine, if you say so," he replied lifting his hands up in defeat.

They sat in silence the rest of the way to go pick up Hiou Uesugi.


Ren had never met Hiou before now, but he'd heard talk around town about his seriousness. He lived up to his reputation. Hiou was very stoic for an 18-year-old. He took Ren by surprise when he spoke up for the first time after introductions.

"I'll be escorting Kanae," he told the two older men while looking out the window. Ren and Yukihito looked at each other both raising an eyebrow.

"That's fine," Ren told him. "But how do you know she wants you to be her escort?" The young man looked at him with a glare.

"Kyoko told me she enjoyed working with me more than she did with you. She would enjoy herself more if I was her escort," he said challengingly. It took everything Ren had not to smile at the young man who was clearly head over heels. I may not be interested in turning this into something more but someone sure is.

Yukihito saved him from having to reply by speaking up, "Why don't we let the ladies decide who they want to walk with?"

"Hmph, fine," was the response Hiou gave as he folded his arms and looked back out the window. Ren had to turn his own head and cover his mouth with his hand to hide the smile he couldn't hold back anymore.

At that moment, they arrived at Rika's house. The girls were all getting ready there. Ren already knew Rika was rich, especially with the limo. But the mini-mansion she lived in showed a higher level of wealth than he realized.

When the limo came to a stop, all three men got out of the car and walked up to the door. Before they even had a chance to knock, a young butler answered the door. "Come in, the ladies will be down soon," he informed them.

Ren, Yukihito, and Hiou filed into the entrance. It was just as nice on the inside as it was on the outside. Ren heard the sound of heels clicking coming from upstairs and looked up to see the three women heading for the top of the stairs to walk down.

Rika came first wearing a floor length red dress. The bottom half was silk with the top half being lace. A slit in the skirt went up to her thigh. The sleeves were a see through material with red embroidered flowers on them. She was wearing her red hair down and straight.

Kanae came second wearing a similar dress but hers was a deep purple with a deeper cleavage. The bottom half was also silk with a high slit with a lace top half. She was wearing her hair up in a bun with a few bangs framing her face.

Last came Kyoko. Ren forgot to breathe for a moment when he first saw her. Her dress was also floor length but of a different style. It was light blue with the silk portion being almost the entire dress. Above her breast line, it turned into the same see through material as what the other two were wearing with silver embroidered flowers. It wasn't form-fitting. Instead, it flowed around her creating pleats making her look stunning. Her chestnut hair was too short to put up, but it was styled to bring out her eyes.

All three men watched speechless as the three women descended. Rika reached the bottom of the stairs first. "Hello, gentlemen. Thank you for escorting us. It wouldn't do for us to arrive at the party single," she said with a smile. Something about her seemed mischievous. "So, what do you think? Are we beautiful?" She asked them.

Ren was having a hard time getting his mouth to work. Thankfully, Yukihito was able to speak. "You are all stunning," he responded while stepping forward and taking Rika's arm to escort her. "I believe I will be your date tonight if you'll have me," he told her.

"I like that idea," she said smiling up at him.

Hiou took the opportunity to step forward himself. "Kanae, would you mind if I was your escort?" He said holding out his arm.

"Not at all," she said smiling at him while taking his arm.

That left him and Kyoko. He realized at that moment looking at her that he had hoped this was how the situation would turn out. That he would be the one to escort her. Maybe Yukihito was right. I don't want to take my eyes off her. He stepped towards reaching out his arm saying, "May I have the honor?"

She smiled up at him while accepting his arm, "Of course."

Ren had to remind himself to breathe. Even before he saw her coming down was the stairs. He was able to smell her intoxicating scent mixed in with the rose perfume she was now wearing. Her smell mixed with how beautiful she was and her touching him was overwhelming. If he wasn't careful, he would trip and make a fool of himself.

The three couples headed out of the mini-mansion. The butler handled the women a shawl to match each of their dresses. They put them around their shoulders before heading out the door. They had to quickly race into the limo as the promised downpour started during their short time inside. They all jumped in the car a little wet.

Ren couldn't help but remember the night he first met Kyoko when she was soaked through from a storm.


I hope you all enjoyed reading the end of this chapter as much as I did writing it. And don't worry, the girl's reactions to the guys will be given next chapter.

I have pics for this chapter to help you visualize the dresses and some of Rika's house a little better. I started the Discord server for this chapter. The pics will go in channel #pics as soon as I'm done posting the chapter. The invite link is in my profile for anyone who has not yet joined but wants to.

The Tangled AU did not get published this past week. I lost some writing time due to the loss of a childhood friend. Plus the story is becoming bigger than I was expecting. But I want it to stay a one-shot, so I'm going to post the whole thing at once when it's done.