Chapter 9

She was temporarily in a haze for most of the morning, but she absolutely would not allow anything to keep her from her goals. So what if she turned into this weird human-animal combination. There had to be a way to control it. Wasn't there? Didn't three others don those strangely realistic costumes on Halloween too? No, she didn't have time to fret over something like this, she had a career to nurture. She had places to go, things to do, and people to see.

"Mo…" She sighed out and plopped onto the large pink sofa in front of the window in the LoveME Section. She leaned back and rested her head on the back of said sofa and closed her eyes, trying to channel calming, and peaceful feelings before her next job.

CLICK… The door opened and shut. She heard the footsteps. It certainly wasn't Kyoko. Kyoko was more active and boisterous than that with her practically screaming, MOKO-SAAAANNNN!, then hurtling into her like a bull with a red cape fluttering in front of it.

She was certain that what had happened last night had happened many times over the past month. It was just last night was the first time that she remembered everything, and she'd never felt so free and happy. That was the one of the many most disturbing things about all of this. She fucking enjoyed it and it was with him. Damn-it all, it just had to be him. She wanted to rip her stupid heart out and stomp it. She didn't have time for going all lovey-dovey, googly-eyed over a man right now, she had more important things to do. What made things even worse is the incredible sex they had together… that she herself had initiated. It was enough to make her want to seek out the nearest marble pillar and bash her head into it. Fortunately she was on birth control or things could easily get even messier.

"Ahhhh…" A very familiar female voice sighed out next to her as she felt said person settle into the cushions next to her.

Couldn't be… She peeked next to her and discovered her very strangely mild best friend in just about the same mood as she was. Frustrated, pensive, and a little depressed. Should I bring it up? Would she think I'm crazy?

"Something wrong?" She pried.

Kyoko glanced at her with a complicated look, then sighed again.

"Mo! Spit it out. I've got things to worry about too, you know." She bit out in an aggravated tone.

"I'm thinking about taking some overseas jobs." Kyoko finally told her.

To Kanae, it sounded a bit like a child wanting to run away from home. If Kyoko was going to run from something, Kanae was sure as heck not going to allow her to do it. Kyoko never ran from anything during the entire time that she'd known her. "Why?.." It wasn't that she didn't want her to. It was just if that was the reason she was thinking of it, then no. She would absolutely not support her in that decision.

"I need a break." That was all she said.

"A break? From what?" Just as I thought… It was scary how she could read her crazy friend. Every. Single. Time.

Then Kyoko told her… everything. Kanae already knew about the chase through TBM, and the many times he'd chased off the men around Kyoko, but she'd never really been sure about how Kyoko felt about it all until now. She suspected that Kyoko had feelings for him, but jeez she certainly didn't know it had been this deep. Kyoko was as bad as he was, except she was better at hiding it. It gave her the creeps every time he flashed that love-sick, let's-get-married-and-make-babies face at Kyoko when she was around.

"No… You do not have my permission to just run off. Kyoko, you cannot run away from your troubles and you haven't finished everything here." Kanae scolded after rolling her eyes at the entire situation. It was only a matter of time before the man completely broke and did the right thing. She was not about to allow her best friend to make a mistake that she absolutely knew that she would regret for the rest of her life, even if Kanae found it physically repulsive.

"But…" Kyoko started with a little whine.

"No buts! Just tell him how you feel and get it over with. At least that way you can move on." Kanae winced a little inwardly, hoping that she didn't sound like the LoveMon during one of his matchmaking games. Although, she could understand now why he did what he did. The tension between the two had been more than palpable lately.

"What if he really doesn't like me as much as I do him? What if he was only being nice to me when he told me he liked me?" Kyoko asked worriedly.

Kanae rolled her eyes. "Do you really think he would make such a scene in TBM if he didn't like you?"

Kyoko sighed out. "But we agreed at the time that we didn't want to date each other or do anything about it. He probably doesn't even feel that way about me anymore. He's probably realized what a mistake he made."

Kanae wanted to slap them both. She glanced at her watch to see if she had enough time for all of this nonsense, and decided that they both needed to get out of the stuffy office. She knew instantly she was going to regret anything that she suggested, but she hated seeing her usually bubbly friend like this. "Mo…" She sighed out in frustration. "Let's go get some ice cream." This was the best way to get what she wanted from Kyoko, even if it did practically destroy her soul to suggest it.

~xoxo~

Ren darted across the hall in practically dove into the empty room that was near the LoveME Section before the girls made their exit. He certainly didn't intend on eavesdropping on their conversation, but it couldn't be helped. He had been told by Yukihito that Kyoko would have time off and he decided to surprise her and pick her up for lunch. Well, he'd definitely got more than he bargained for from that little session. He wanted to kick himself for being so incredibly stupid. It would seem that his 'protecting' her was doing more harm than good, emotionally. He was truly worried that she just may pick up and leave, regardless of Kotonami-san's wishes to keep her in Japan. If he didn't do something soon, there was a good chance that he'd never be able to make it up to her or even find her, for that matter. At this point he was certain that Kanae couldn't possibly care any less than she did at the moment what he thought about it, so there was no point in approaching her for help. He would just need to come clean to Kyoko and let her decide his fate.