Kanae's finger hovered over the delete button. It obscured Sho's face, leering up at her from the floor of her apartment. She hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip. The photo could be useful as blackmail. A security measure of sorts, if he ever showed up again.

"MOKO-SAN!" The thunderous greeting of her best friend shattered the LoveMe room's quiet. Kyoko had slipped through the door unnoticed as Kanae glared down at her phone, and was halfway across the open space between them before Kanae reacted, lurching to her feet with her hands outstretched in paralyzed fear.

"NO!"

Kyoko froze midair, a sculpture of a girl titled The Transfiguration. Kanae let her hand fall. Kyoko unfroze, landing gently on her feet, her eyes still heart shaped but her hands safely clasped around each other instead of Kanae's waist. So much touching, so much clinging. Kanae was still purging her body's memories from life with her family. Someday, maybe, she'd enjoy the sensation of being touched again. She eyed Kyoko warily. Today was not that day. Especially not after last night.

Fuwa had done as she asked. He'd stolen a pair of her sunglasses and a broad-brimmed hat, waving cheekily at her from the middle of the street. He looked absurd, the track jacket only zipped at the very bottom, baring his entire chest and her pants clinging to the his legs tightly enough she could see the form of them even from the roof. She turned and stomped back downstairs without acknowledging him, locking her door and collapsing onto her futon with it still cattywompus in the center of the room.

"Moko-san, I never get to see you anymore! Our schedules syncing up like this is a miracle!"

"I moved practice with Uesgui-sama back a half an hour."

Kyoko glittered. Literal sparkles shedding into the air around her. Kanae didn't know how she did it, like the magnetism of her personality warped the elements themselves into obedience. She batted at the sparkles, waiting for her friend to pause in the deeply inheld breath and speak. "YOU MOVED IT FOR ME?"

Shriller than she expected, but par for the course. "Mo, no. I need to ask you something."

"YOU NEED SOMETHING FROM ME?"

"Mo! Quiet down, or I'll leave and find out another way."

Kyoko knelt on the floor in front of her, her hands clasped on her lap and her eyes wide as she looked up at Kanae. She said nothing, waiting in total silence.

Kanae sighed. "What do you know-" No, wrong tactic. "How did your visit with Mr. and Mrs. Fuwa go?"

Kyoko's puzzlement took the form of rocking back on her heels and a faltering smile. Kanae pushed her smile wider, wishing she was better at the girl friends part. It was always so hard, opening up as much as Kyoko wanted. She wanted to-she wanted to do everything this ball of sunshine wanted-but it hurt. Like pulling something out of herself that wasn't quite ready to be born. "Only if you want to talk about it. I was just… curious."

Kyoko bounced up and sat on the makeup stool next to Kanae, spinning to face her friend. She'd recovered instantly. "Moko-san, you've never asked about them before! I can tell you all about them!" Kyoko's smile flickered again.

"No," Kanae said, regretting already asking her friend to delve into anything that touched on what had to be a painful past. Kyoko never talked about her life before coming to Tokyo with her. Theirs was the future, not the past. "It's fine. I'm sorry for bringing them up."

"Moko, no! I'm… thankful. This is something best friends do, right? Share about their fam-about friends."

Kanae winced, trying to force the action into a smile. She was using Kyoko. She should just tell the truth. She opened her mouth to spill everything, but Kyoko beat her to it.

"They stayed just the weekend. It was… nice. Fuwa-san is like an aunt to me. They are so kind. Mostly, though, they just wanted to make sure their son was leaving me alone." Kyoko laughed, but her eyes had grown the dark yellow of a sky before a cyclone. "I told them I hadn't seen him. His grandma told me she'd make sure it stayed that way." She glanced at Kanae. "It wasn't strictly true-I have seen Sho, the idiot."

Kanae forced her hands to stay still on top her pink uniform, thanking the years of acting drills for her ability to not flinch or modulate her tone. "You saw him?" she prodded.

Kyoko nodded. "A few weeks ago, before they visited. He came in disguise to the Darumaya. I gave him some food and got him back out of there as quickly as possible." Kyoko's brow darkened farther, then cleared into the strange wistfulness she always wore when thinking of Tsuruga-san. Kanae had known for ages how her friend thought of Tsuruga-san. She was waiting for the right time to ask her about him. If there ever would be one.

"Have you seen him since?"

Kyoko glared at her reflection in the mirror. "I haven't. But when I do, I'll remind him of everything he owes me. He's mine to take down, and disappearing is going to make it too easy."

Kanae swallowed. "Disappearing? What do you mean?"

Kyoko shrugged. "It's been all over the news, Moko-san! Stupid Sho missed two talk show appearances. Koga-san said he must be on a bender, that it's a right of passage for musicians."

Kanae nearly choked at how easily Kyoko referred to a bender. "Kyoko! A bender!"

"What? Isn't that just some sort of yoga tour?"

Kanae glared at her friend. Sometimes her innocence was the most irritating thing in the world. She wanted to protect her, and this naivete was doing the opposite. "A bender is when someone disappears because they're too busy doing drugs and getting drunk." At least I think, Kanae said to herself. She huffed and spun away from Kyoko. "That's all you know, though?"

Kyoko was watching her carefully, golden eyes wide. Eyes the same shade as Sho's. Kanae had really hoped she would know something else, but she didn't see a way to get more information without letting Kyoko know what was going on. "Moko-san," Kyoko said, her tone making Kanae brace herself for an explosion. She'd said too much, and now Kyoko had the wrong idea about her and Sho. "How do you know what a bender is?"

Kanae brushed angrily at her hair, angry at the relief rushing over her and angry at having to explain these things when she didn't really know the answer. "I pay attention," she said, hoping it would suffice.

"I will endeavor to pay more attention as well!" Kyoko saluted the air, her face set in determination. Kanae stared at her in disbelief, but Kyoko was already busy changing into her LoveMe uniform.

The change had to have happened recently, if it was correlating with this "bender" disappearance. Sho had always been portrayed as difficult, and yet made most of his commitments-probably thanks less to his own efforts than the efforts of his manager. Kanae huffed and stood, whisking past Kyoko to the door. They had work to do, and trying to understand the origin of a teenage werewolf she was certain to never see again was not on the list.

Lory had the two girls helping with costume and makeup for a runway show. Kyoko stared in awe at each new model that walked through the doors and settled into a makeup chair. Kanae was only paying half-attention, her hands matching tagged dresses to the spreadsheet on her clipboard listing the order of each model's outfits but her eyes and ears trained on the TV perched in the top corner of the room, reading the close captioning scrolling below the Entertainment Japan host. In the top of the screen, a small corner video showed footage of Sho waving at the screen, walking into his recording studio. He wore terribly tight black leather pants, had stupid feathers tied seemingly at random into his hair, and, most annoyingly of all, still wore her pink track jacket, still zipped only to the bottom of his navel. "Idiot."

"LoveMe girl!" A woman shaped like a stick insect poking out of a fuschia dress summoned Kanae from her distraction. Kanae snapped to attention, muttering at herself and racing twice as fast to complete her work.

Six hours later, Kanae sagged against the clothes rack, allowing herself just a moment of relief before snapping her spine straight again. Kyoko peeked around the corner, her hair wild and face flushed but otherwise seemingly unflustered by the manic level of activity the show had demanded. Kanae had not realized how much running and shouting and frenetic searching a fashion show required behind the scenes. Wires and tulle and hairspray filled the air. She brushed her hair back out of her face. "Dinner?"

Kyoko bounced on her toes, but her face was conflicted. "Moko-san-oh, Moko, I want to, but-"

Kanae brushed her off, ignoring the strange ache in her chest. "You have plans. That's what I meant, too. I have plans for dinner."

"Oh! Good! I thought-"

"Never mind," Kanae said gruffly. "I have plans, I said."

Kyoko stood very close to her side, a ball of brightness. Too much brightness. Their uniforms were absolutely sickening. Kanae tugged at her own collar, eager to get it off. "Tomorrow, then?"

Kyoko looked crestfallen. "I have to be on set all day."

"Momiji?"

Her friend bounced back, joy spreading beautifully across her features again. "Yes! Momiji's scenes are beginning!"

Kanae felt nothing but pride as she thought of her friend in that role. She would've killed to have nailed Chidori. "Well, that works. I should use the day to prepare as well. Kuresaki begins filming in two days." Kanae furrowed her brow, realizing she should share with Kyoko at least one event that happened recently. "Kyoko, I want you to know something."

Kyoko's phone rang. She ignored it, waiting for Kanae to speak. Kanae tried, but the phone ringing threw her off. "Mo, never mind. Answer the phone. I'll email you later."

Kyoko grinned, flipping her phone open and immediately blushing. Kanae watched suspiciously as Kyoko wandered away, far enough Kanae wasn't able to hear. Kanae sighed, patted her hair down again to ensure it lay perfectly, and then waved goodbye.