Kyoko's phone alarm chimed promptly at 4:30 AM the following morning. She shut it off and poked Kanae in the side. Kanae pulled her pillow over her face.

"Mo! Five more minutes!"

"Moko-san, we have to get up! We have to get to hair and makeup!"

Kanae sat up. Her hair was a bird's nest on the side of her head. Kyoko snorted with laughter and ducked to avoid the pillow that came flying at her head.

"Stop laughing! Mo!"

They dressed and headed down the hall, where Yayoi had a breakfast bar set up. They made themselves a plate, ate quickly, and then headed outside. Ren was standing just outside with Kijima, who was finishing a cigarette. He snubbed it out in a nearby cigarette receptacle and waved.

"Good morning, lovely ladies!"

Kanae glared at him and walked right past him. "I'll see you on set, Kyoko."

His face fell and he followed her. "W-wait! Kotonami-san, won't you walk with me!? Ah!" He tripped over something unseen and fell face first on the path. Hiou Uesugi stepped out from the bushes beside the path and stepped over Kijima's prone body. He caught up with Kanae and walked her to the set. Kijima recovered and slinked back inside the ryokan to lick his wounds, making the excuse that he had forgotten something. Kyoko and Ren, who witnessed all of this, broke into a joint fit of laughter. Kyoko had to wipe tears on her hoodie sleeve. Ren recovered first.

"I wish I was half as smooth as that kid."

Kyoko giggled. "He'll really be something in a few years."

Ren gestured ahead at the path. "Shall we?"

They walked down the cobbled path, taking in all the sights. It was just as Kyoko remembered it, with lush green leaves on the trees and well-manicured shrubs. She chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

She smiled up at Ren. "I was just thinking, this is the first time I've ever been here without Shotarou. It's weird." He did his best to punch down his inner demons at the mention of Fuwa's name. There was nothing he hated more than that bottle blonde. Kyoko winced. "I'm sorry I mentioned him. I know you don't like him."

He shook his head. "Don't apologize. I understand that he was a large part of your life for many years. I just don't know that I can forgive him for the way he treats you."

Kyoko looked at her feet bashfully. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have met you… so in a way, I'm thankful to Sho for being a brat."

Ren smiled warmly. "I guess that's true enough."

"Mogami-san! Tsuruga-san!" A makeup artist was gesturing from the doorway of a trailer in the distance. "We need you two in here right now!"

"Last one to the trailer has to kiss Kijima."

Kyoko blinked and looked up at Ren. "Wha-?" But he was already running down the hill. She ran after him. "You can't do that to me! You're so much taller, it's not fair!" When they got to the trailer, they were both winded. Though Ren had gotten a head start, Kyoko was neck and neck with him by the time they got there.

"I'm NOT…going to… kiss… Kijima!" she gasped, holding onto the side of the trailer for support.

Ren let out a short bark of breathless laughter as he stood gripping his knees, trying to breathe. "Good." After catching his breath, he opened the trailer door for her. "Ladies first."

She went up the couple of steps into the trailer and was immediately ushered into a chair. Koga Hiromune was beside her, and Ren was on the other side of him. Koga was having his claws applied. His wig and ears were on a mannequin head on the makeup counter. "Took you long enough, Tsuruga-san. I guess gorgeous stars need more beauty sleep than the rest of us." He had decided after the previous night that there was no reason to hide his true feelings from his number one rival.

Ren sat down in the chair, smiling serenely. "Good morning to you as well, Hiromune-san."

Kyoko had to stifle a giggle. The makeup artists threw a cape over her and started getting to work. They pinned her hair up to keep it out of the way, and started applying her prosthetic ears. When they finished that, they airbrushed her skin so the ears and skin tone would match. Then they applied her makeup and helped her put in some red contacts. She blinked when she saw herself in the mirror: Kagura had taken over her face.

They put Kagura's earrings through the prosthetics and then applied the wig and styled it. They gave her a quick manicure, and when they finished, they removed the cape and shooed Kyoko out the door to the wardrobe trailer next door. When she got there, they dressed her up in Kagura's white and purple kimono. When they showed her the end result in a full-length mirror, Kagura had taken over the rest of Kyoko's body. She smirked.

"I feel naked without my fan."

The seamstress chuckled. "If you go to set, the prop department has a stand set up. You'll get your fan there."

Kyoko exited the trailer and followed the signs down the path to the set. When she got there and saw the lighting and microphones set up, she felt a rush of excitement. They had made a Bone Eater's Well and set it up on the grass. If Kyoko hadn't grown up there and known better, she would have thought it had been there forever. She saw the prop stand over to the side of the set and walked over to it.

"Yo. I was told you guys have my fan."

The prop master passed it over to her. "Please be careful with it. We only have so many of them."

She smirked at him and opened it with a graceful flick of the wrist. "Thank you."

"Mo! Kyoko!"

Kyoko rushed over to Kanae, completely breaking character and squealing over her friend's costume. "Oh my gosh! Look at you! IS THAT HIRAIKOTSU!? IS IT HEAVY!?"

Kanae rolled her eyes as she hefted the huge boomerang over her shoulder. "It's actually not too bad. They made it out of foam, so it's pretty light."

Kyoko's eyes were shining. "That's so cool!"

There was a sudden jingling approaching from behind Kyoko. Before she could fully acknowledge it, Kanae had lifted Hiraikotsu and swung it down over Kyoko's shoulder.

"That's not very nice."

Kyoko turned to look and found Kijima countering the Hiraikotsu with Miroku's staff. Kanae pulled Hiraikotsu away. "Neither is grabbing unsuspecting women. You're lucky Tsuruga didn't catch you."

He pouted. "I wasn't actually going to grab her. I know all about consent, Kotonami-san. You wound me."

"That so, Kijima? 'Cause from where I stood, that looked questionable." Kijima turned and stood almost nose to nose with Koga Hiromune, who was baring a set of fangs at him. He backed away with his hands up.

"I wasn't going to, honest! Kyoko-chan, back me up here! You know me!," he pleaded.

Kyoko sighed and fixed him with a glare. "Kijima's a joker. I don't think he was actually going to do anything."

Koga smiled. "Good, because I'd hate to lose a claw punching him in the face."

A sudden hush fell over the crew and the cast turned to look. Ren had entered the set, and looked every inch a demon lord. His mokomoko fluttered out behind him along with his silvery wig. Kyoko gawped at him as he approached. So pretty.

He stopped by the prop table and smirked as he picked up Bakusaiga. He thrust the scabbard through his obi and kept walking.

"Wait, Tsuruga-san! You forgot the Tenseiga!" the prop master called after him.

He stopped. "I have no need for that sword. It is useless to me."

Kyoko almost swooned; he had the voice down perfectly.

"You could always give it here, Sesshomaru! Father made a mistake giving it to you in the first place!" Koga's InuYasha shouted.

Kyoko walked with a breezy grace to set herself between them. "Might be a good idea for you to take the sword, Lord Sesshomaru. You might want to kill this ugly mutt," she gestured at Koga's InuYasha with her fan, "And then resurrect him and kill him again." she purred, smirking dangerously.

At that, Ren's Sesshomaru gave the tiniest of smirks and walked back to the prop table. He thrust the Tenseiga into his obi next to Bakusaiga. He approached Kyoko and dropped his character. "Thank you for the suggestion, Mogami-san."

She smiled and blushed. "Rin wasn't there to make you take the sword back, so I figured I had to give you some motivation to keep it." She stood stunned by his contacts. Their gold coloring, coupled with his lighter colored wig made her frown momentarily.

"Mogami-san, is something wrong?"

Kyoko shook her head. "No. Just… sometimes you remind me a lot of Corn."

The guilt that surged through Ren's body at that moment was only assuaged when the Director called for everyone to take their places. Kyoko and Ren stood off to the side and watched as Itsumi, Koga, Kanae, and Kijima acted out their scene. A green sandbag stood near Itsumi's ankle, and another one was perched on Kanae's shoulder. Kyoko whispered to Ren, confused.

"What on earth are those for?"

He smiled. "Those are Shippo and Kirara."

Kyoko stared. "Seriously?"

"What did you think they were going to do? Hire a real fox child and a trained cat?," he teased.

She pouted. "I–I don't know. Don't make fun of me, Tsuruga-san."

He looked at the sandbags thoughtfully. "I imagine I'll be getting my own sandbag. Can't hire any imps to play Jaken, either."

Kyoko stifled a giggle so the sound equipment wouldn't pick it up. "Have you ever acted with a sandbag before?"

He shook his head. "Never."

"How do you plan to handle that? I don't know how I would act with a sandbag."

A mischievous smile appeared on his face as he whispered into her ear,"I'm going to pretend it's Fuwa."

Immediately, Kyoko imagined a tiny Shotarou, running around irritating Lord Sesshomaru, who promptly kicked him into space. At that, Kyoko had to cover her mouth with both hands.

They filmed for almost 14 hours. When the Director finally called it quits, Kyoko was exhausted. She got up from the chair in makeup, having gotten her ears and makeup taken off, and trudged up the darkened path toward the ryokan. Koga Hiromune caught up with her. Upon taking in her slumped posture and obviously aching feet, he chuckled.

"You gonna make it?"

She smiled, pained. "I'll make it. I think."

He knelt on the path in front of her. "Go on, I'll piggyback you."

She shook her head emphatically. "I can't ask you to do that. You've been lugging Momose-san around all day! You must be exhausted!"

He shook his head. "You're tiny, hop on." She leaned over him and put her arms around his neck, and he grabbed her by the backs of her knees and straightened up to carry her. "You looked like you were gonna die on your feet."

"Thank you, Koga-san. If it wasn't for the hike back up the hill, I probably could have made it."

He nodded. "I know Tsuruga probably would have gotten you up, but it's going to take forever to get his makeup off."

Kyoko blushed, not wanting to confirm or deny anything. "Are you two getting along any better?"

Koga tilted his head to look at her over his shoulder. "Last night, I took his bed, and I used up all the hot water and flooded the bathroom for him."

Kyoko gaped at him. "Why would you do that?"

"You remember when you were crying a few weeks ago?"

Kyoko blushed, still embarrassed that Koga had witnessed that. "Um… yeah?"

"You may have forgiven him, but as your senpai, I haven't."

Kyoko felt warm and her eyes welled with tears. She cleared her throat.

"I appreciate the thought, Koga-san, but Tsuruga-san did apologize."

"I still didn't like seeing you like that. It's a hangover from Lotus, but I feel like we're family. No one picks on my dumb little sister except me."

She hugged him around his neck. "Thank you, Koga-san."

"You're welcome, Kyoko-chan."

He carried her into the rear entrance of the Ryokan and set her down.

"Wow. First you use your slut magic on Tsuruga, and now this guy. Tokyo sure changed you."

A jolt of electricity shot up Kyoko's spine as she looked over to see Sho leaning against the wall. Before she could say anything, however, Koga had grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"And who the HELL are you to say such a thing to her?"

Kyoko jumped into action and pried Koga's hands off of Sho and stood between them. "He's the son of the Okami. Just go, I'll handle it."

Koga stared at her, his mouth agape. "Did you HEAR what he just called you!?"

She sighed. "Shotarou is an asshole, and he has no manners. I will handle it, Koga-san. Please."

Koga crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Sho, unmoving. Kyoko sighed in defeat, knowing that she wasn't going to get Koga to leave.

"Shotarou, we've been filming all day. Can you be rude to me tomorrow after I've at least slept?"

Sho smirked at Koga over her shoulder. "I guess. I'm not here to pick fights with this small fry anyway. Where's that prissy elevator-shoe-wearing douchebag Ren Tsuruga at?"

As if on cue, Ren came through the door. He stopped and stared at Sho with a glare on his face. "Fuwa."

"Oh good, you are here."

Ren came to stand beside Kyoko and pointed down the hallway. "I think it's time we went to bed, Mogami-san. We have a full day tomorrow."

"I'm not fucking done talking to her yet," said Sho with a smirk.

Koga smiled through clenched teeth. "No, I think you're definitely done talking to her. At least until you change your tone. Come on, Kyoko-chan, we're going to bed."

Sho's eyebrows lifted. "Oh, all three of you? I didn't know you did such things, Kyoko."

Ren reached for him, but Kyoko got there first. Her foot connected solidly with his shin.

"OW! FUCK!" Sho doubled over, clutching his leg in pain.

"GO TO BED, STUPID SHOTAROU!" She turned on her heel and stomped off down the hall, leaving Ren and Koga in her wake. They looked at each other, satisfied with the events that had transpired, and left Sho on the ground, rolling around in agony. When they reached their door, Kyoko turned and threw herself on the floor in a dogeza.

"I apologize for Shotarou's behavior… and for my unladylike response."

Koga laughed. "No need to apologize for what you did. I saw Tsuruga's face, he was gonna kill that guy."

Ren laughed along politely, but Kyoko's breath caught. That's exactly why I kicked Sho, she thought. She remembered back to her time as Setsuka Heel, when some punk guys had harassed her in the street and Ren had lost his mind on them. Sho doesn't have a clue what Tsuruga-san is capable of, and neither does Koga, she thought, as a chill ran up her spine. Ren helped her back up to her feet, wishing he could hug her. Her face was bright red with embarrassment. "Are you sure you're alright, Mogami-san?"

Kyoko frowned at the floor. "I'll be okay. I didn't think he'd be here… I thought he was on tour."

Ren shrugged. "We can't do much about that except get on with the job."

Kyoko sighed in relief, glad that he wasn't angry with her. She bowed to them. "Thank you both. I'm going to try and get some sleep. We have another long day tomorrow. Goodnight."

They went into their rooms. When their doors shut, Koga pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "What the hell is that guy's problem? He's lucky Kyoko got to him first."

Ren nodded. "I'm going to go shower first, if that's all right?"

Koga nodded and turned on the TV. "Go for it."

Ren disappeared into the bathroom. When he did, he locked the door and leaned over the sink, hyperventilating with his hand over Rick's watch on his wrist. He looked at himself in the mirror. If Kyoko hadn't hit him first… what would I have done? Inside their shared mind, Kuon cracked his knuckles.

You'd have beaten him within an inch of his life for insinuating such a thing about our girl. You'd have fucked him up real good, and you'd have loved every last second of it.

Ren felt a wave of nausea as he imagined Shotarou Fuwa laying on the ground covered in his own blood… just like Rick. He sat down on the floor and tried to breathe deeply. When he had better control of himself, he stood up and looked in the mirror again, determined.

We didn't hurt him, and we won't hurt him, because we don't do that anymore. Kyoko-chan wouldn't want us to.

He took his contacts out and started up the shower. When he finished, he entered the bedroom wearing a fresh yukata and was toweling his hair. Koga was lying on his futon. Ren walked past him to his own futon, and Koga got up to go to the bathroom. He stopped at the bathroom door. "Hey, Tsuruga?"

Ren looked up at him. "Yes, Hiromune-san?"

Koga paused for a moment, and then said, "You're all right." He entered the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Ren stared at the door for a moment, unable to comprehend what had just happened. We went from spitefully flooding the bathroom to being cool overnight? I guess Fuwa's stupid ass is good for something after all, he thought with a smirk. He picked up his cell phone.

In the room across the hall, Kyoko's phone chimed and lit up in the dark. She saw that it was a text from Ren and stilled. She opened it. Are you okay?

She smiled at her phone. Yes. I appreciate you trying to protect me, but I don't want you to get in trouble for my sake. Please let me handle Shotarou while we're here.

He read her text, mumbled some choice words about Sho under his breath, and then texted her back. I will do my best. Goodnight, Mogami-san.

Kyoko's phone chimed again, and Kanae threw a pillow at her. "MO. STOP TEXTING YOUR BOYFRIEND AND GO TO SLEEP."

Kyoko dropped her phone in shock. "H-he's not my boyfriend, Moko-san!"

Kanae narrowed her tired eyes on her friend. "Your secret admirer. Your confidential entanglement. YOUR SKELETON IN THE CLOSET. I don't care what he is, GO TO BED! MO!"

Kyoko pulled the covers over her head and put her phone on silent, but not before she texted Ren back. Goodnight, Tsuruga-san.

THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY STILL READING THIS. Legit, this has been such a huge confidence boost for me, and I appreciate everybody! Special shout out to my regular commenters, because you guys light me up. xD It always makes me so happy to see what's resonating with everybody! Keep 'em coming! ALL MY LOVE - BO