A/N: A little snippet of what I think Ren's little discussion will be with Kyoko when he gets her alone. I could be wrong. ;)

Do You Really Hate Me?

Well, this was a position she was intimately familiar with. Trapped between the wall and Ren, with his delicious, strong, masculine arms caging her and preventing her escape. He still had that look on his face. She'd initially thought it was the Demon Lord, but there was something else there lurking beneath. It was a look of hurt. She couldn't remember saying or doing anything to elicit that type of reaction from him.

"Why did you tell him that you hated me?" He murmured.

She looked up at him and her blush left her face in her shock. What was she supposed to tell Koga? That Ren was her boyfriend and she was madly in love with him? How would that turn out? It's not like Koga was someone she could confide in and expect the secret to remain secret or that he and others wouldn't firmly believe that she was a homewrecker and a floozy or even firmly believe that she was an insane, delusional, fan-girl.

"I-I… had to." She answered quietly.

He furrowed his brow, the darkness ebbed away minutely.

She noticed and sighed a little in relief, yet not totally believing that this was actually what was bothering him. "We both agreed we wouldn't do anything about our situation and… you have Kana. What did you want me to say? It's not like I can tell the world that you're my… b-boyfriend." She whispered, not realizing the bitterness in her tone. This entire situation bothered her more that she realized.

He startled a bit at her tone and the hurt from Koga's teasing evaporated.

"If anyone even suspected that you and I had anything going on, they would tear me apart. Your fans, Kana's fans. Practically everyone I work with has a crush on you and thinks Kana's perfect for you. If they saw me wearing your necklace or thought that I broke you and Kana up, every one of them would hate me. I can't compete with her in their eyes." Her heart and mind lit up with a fire. "Hell, no one really can. Especially not me, ever. She's perfect in every way and the fans love her. You and her are the "perfect" couple." She murmured sarcastically with a Natsu lilt. "At least that's what everyone says. I hear it all the fucking time. I can't even get away from it at home. If I'm not hearing about how wonderful you and she look from the Okami, I have to put up with her throwing Sho at me. It never fucking ends. So… Tell me, Ren… What do you want me to say? What do you want me to do? Continue the lie and protect myself properly or be a home-wrecking slut and tell the world the truth?" She hissed a little in anger in the end, not believing that they were even having this juvenile conversation.

He was stunned. She had brought up some very good points that really hadn't occurred to him. He finally realized that he'd made things complicated and what could result in making things worse if he ever wanted to actually date her publicly. He had added Kana's fans to the mix. He felt like someone poured hot lead over him. "K-Kyoko… I'm so sorry. I never thought of that. I only wanted to protect you." He confessed.

Protect me? Protect me?! "I don't need anyone to protect me! I've been doing just fine since I was four years old on my own!" She hissed and pushed his arm out of the way, leaving an opening. "Protect Kana-Nee… If you want that. She needs it more than I do." She hissed out as she stomped off in anger. She was not a delicate little flower that couldn't handle life or take responsibility for her own choices! Unlike some people she wasn't going to mention. She honestly couldn't help being angry. He'd touched on a subject that was really bothering her and she was fed up with people thinking she was weak, especially him. He was the last person she wanted thinking she was weak. If she were ever to stand next to him, she didn't want him or anyone else thinking she was weak and needed protection!

Ren watched as she stomped away in anger. He truly wanted to follow and make sure she knew that he didn't think that of her, but wasn't he actually doing exactly that? She'd brought up a very valid point and he'd not realized when he'd made the arrangement with Kana that Kyoko would be bombarded from all sides like she'd described. The main thing he'd not thought about is what Kana's fans would do if they ever publicly split and he started dating Kyoko. The thought never occurred to him what his and Kana's fans would do when that ever happened. Well, if that ever happened now. He was pretty sure that Kyoko might actually hate him now, instead of it being an act like she'd implied.