The following morning, Kyoko got up before anyone else and dressed hurriedly. She poked her head into the hallway, checked left, then right, then made a mad dash for the door of the ryokan. She managed to make it to the makeup trailer before any of her costars. The makeup artists were still setting up, but they let her in. She sat down in the chair, and let out a sigh of relief. I managed to avoid Sho. Now hopefully Moko-san will get my text and bring me food after she wakes up. She hoped with all of her being that Sho would just stay away from the set, but she wasn't sure she would get so lucky.

"Kyoko-chan, are you all right?"

Kyoko started and looked up at the makeup artist. "Yes, why?"

The woman giggled. "You keep making this awful face like you're angry. Are you sure you're okay?"

Kyoko blushed. "Yes, I just didn't sleep very well. I'll be fine."

"Okay dear, but I need you to relax your face so I can get your makeup right."

Kyoko nodded once and sat up ramrod straight. The rest of the makeup application went smoothly. They were joined shortly by Ren and Koga, who both looked relieved to see her there.

"Are you all right, Mogami-san?," asked Ren, concerned.

Koga sighed, relieved but annoyed. "You should text before you run off like that. We were worried when we didn't see you at breakfast."

She bowed her head. "I just came down here to put some distance between me and Shotarou before he woke up. I'm sorry that I worried you."

"Did you at least eat?" Ren asked. Kyoko giggled.

"I never thought you would ask me that question."

He smiled. "Touche. But did you? I can run back up to the ryokan and get you something."

She shook her head. "It's okay. I left a message for Moko-san. She should be bringing something for me. Thank you, though."

After her makeup was applied, she left the trailer and found Kanae outside waiting with a container of rice and grilled fish. She thanked her profusely as she practically inhaled them. Her stomach was grumbling in protest and was thankful to have food in it again. They sat on a big boulder near the trailer.

"So… was he there?" Kyoko asked quietly. She hadn't wanted to broach the subject with Ren or Koga; she didn't want their anger from the night before to carry over onto the set.

Kanae nodded. "He was looking all over for you. It was a smart move to get down here as quickly as you did. It kept the Okami from having to clean up her son's body from the dining room. You should have seen the looks going between him and Tsuruga. Hiromune was running interference, though." Kyoko made note of that, and made a silent promise to find some way to thank Koga later. "I still don't understand," Kanae continued. "I thought you said he was on tour?"

Kyoko nodded. "That's what I thought. I guess he's on break or something? Or maybe he's got a date near here so he stopped? Either way, it's just my luck." She finished her breakfast just as Ren and Koga came out of the trailer. Kanae got up from the boulder and went inside. The three of them went to the wardrobe trailer and got dressed up. When they finished, they went to the set. A stunt coordinator approached them.

"Mogami-san! Just the girl I was looking for!"

Kyoko smiled. "May I help you?"

He nodded. "Kagura's taking her first ride on her feather today. We have to get you fitted for the harness and make sure everything's safe. If you could please follow me."

She followed him over to a rig with a harness and a green platform. They made sure the harness fit her nice and tight and that the platform was stable beneath her. They raised her up in the air a few times on the end of a mechanical arm to get her comfortable with the motion. When they finished, she bowed to the coordinators and thanked them.

"I haven't done any stunt work with a machine like this before! I'm so excited! Please take care of me."

They bowed back. "You're in good hands, Mogami-san. By the way…" one of the older men laughed nervously, "Would it be too much trouble to ask for your autograph? My daughter watches Lotus in the Mire and she's a big fan of Momiji."

Kyoko was sure she was glowing. She had never been asked for an autograph before! "I-of course! What's your daughter's name?"

The man handed her a notepad and a pen. "Her name is Ami."

Kyoko signed it, Ami-chan, thanks for watching our show! - Kyoko.

The man thanked her and put the notepad in his pocket and turned to help fit Hiou for his harness. When Kyoko turned away from him, she found Ren there, beaming.

"Was that your first one?" Kyoko nodded, her face still prettily pink. She had to look away from him; the brightness of his smile was too much. "There will be plenty more where that one came from." He said simply.

She felt bashful. "Hopefully."

He shook his head and gave her the NG sigh. "You're too modest. We need to work on that."

"Do you have a problem with my modesty, Tsuruga-san?" she asked in a mock-offended manner.

"I just wish you could see you the way I see you." He smiled down at her, and she felt like her insides were melting.

The Director called for Kyoko and she bowed to Ren and ran away to work. He took a seat off set next to Koga Hiromune, of whom he had grown a touch more fond.

"How is she?" Koga asked.

Ren shrugged. "She's all right. She bounces back pretty quick after having to deal with Fuwa. She bounces back pretty quick from just about everything." He knew she was still carrying her hurt feelings, though. He thought back to when they were kids, how she'd be crying over how her mother was so mean to her, and then laughing in the next few minutes. He hated that she had never allowed herself to take time and be upset for longer than five minutes at a time so as not to upset other people. The Corn stone, that he had tucked under his armor, seemed to be heavy with all of the sadness and pain it had taken from her over the years. A great deal of that sadness and pain had come either directly or indirectly from the little bottle blonde bastard that he despised so much.

Koga smiled as he thumbed through a magazine. "That attitude will come in handy– what the hell?" He stared at the magazine and pointed at a picture over an article. "Isn't this that asshole Shotarou guy? What the hell is he doing in a magazine?"

Ren grunted in irritation and didn't even look at the picture. "Probably. He's a singer." Ren had a sudden realization and looked over at Koga, "I'm actually surprised you've never heard of Sho Fuwa. He usually makes the popularity lists."

Koga scoffed. "Unless they rank above me, I don't read the name. Not worth it." This made Ren smirk. Koga had been ranked Number Two for a long time, and he himself was Number One, or so Yashiro had told him. "How does Kyoko know him anyway? Ex-boyfriend or something?"

Ren rankled at the idea of Sho as Kyoko's ex-boyfriend and stared ahead darkly. "Or something." He didn't want to tell a story that wasn't his to tell.

Director Nakamura called for quiet on the set, and set the scene into action.

Kagura was squaring off against none other than Sango the Demon Slayer. She used her Dance of the Dead to reanimate a couple of fallen villagers to run at Sango, who dispatched them with her katana. She threw her boomerang, Hiraikotsu, at Kagura, who waved her fan and used her Dance of the Dragon (the effects would, of course, be added in post-production) to blow it off course. Sango ran the long way around the attack, however, and was almost within striking distance of Kagura with her katana when a chain wrapped around her ankle and pulled her to the ground.

She looked across the field in shock. "Kohaku!"

She pulled the chain off, and he yanked it away, catching it expertly in his hand.

"I'm sorry, Miss Sango."

He ran to Kagura's side, and she plucked her feather nimbly from her hair.

"CUT!"

Director Nakamura ran giddily onto the set. "That was incredible! Fantastic work from all of you, especially you, Hiou-kun! We'll do the next scene where Kagura and Kohaku fly away in a few minutes when the crew brings the rig over."

The rig set up didn't take long, and they got back into position. Kyoko and Hiou were harnessed and lifted up into the air on the rig. Kanae stood on the ground.

"Action!"

Sango ran after the feather. "Wait! Kohaku!" She had tears in her eyes. "Please come back!" She fell to her knees, unable to catch the feather. She stared after it, heartbroken, as it floated away into the distance, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"CUT! Incredible work, Kotonami-san!"

Kyoko had barely landed on the ground and been unharnessed when she ran across the set toward Kanae, tears streaming down her face. "MOKO-SAN! I'M SO SORRRYYY!"

Kanae bonked her in the forehead with Hiraikotsu. "IT'S CALLED ACTING. MO!"

"BUT YOU WERE CRYING AND I DON'T WANT TO MAKE YOU CRY MOKO-SANNN!"

Kanae bonked her again with the overly large boomerang. "WOULD YOU PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!?"

Kyoko sniffed. "You're not… mad at me?"

Kanae sighed and palmed herself in the forehead. "Why would I be mad at you!? We're acting, Kyoko! I'm Sango, you're Kagura, you steal my brother, it's what you do!"

Kyoko looked up at her with big watery eyes. "Okay. As long as we're still friends."

Kanae sighed and looked up at the sky, wishing the real Kagura would come and abduct her.

They sat down off to the side with Ren and Koga as the crew changed the props around in preparation for the next scene.

"Kotonami-san, I heard you auditioned for Chidori. After watching you here, I'm surprised you didn't get it." And a little disappointed. You're pretty cute, Koga added to himself.

Kanae nodded. "I auditioned for it, but I didn't really want it. Chidori's a weirdo stalker."

Koga's eyes widened in surprise at her bluntness. Kyoko's Momiji hastened to agree. "Chidori sucks. BUT, Moko-san would have been the most beautiful and perfect Chidori ever." Her eyes were starry as she stared at her best friend, who flicked her in the forehead.

"Mo! Knock it off, you're creeping me out."

Kyoko rubbed the sore spot between her eyebrows. "But it's truuueeee! Moko-san is so beautiful and perfect, and talented! I wish I could be more like her!"

Ren remembered back a few weeks ago to Kanae's high heel planted on the wall in front of him, blocking his path, and thanked every deity in existence that Kyoko was not like "Moko". Much like Wu-Tang Clan, Moko-san ain't nothing to fuck with, he thought, making himself chuckle.

"Is something funny, Tsuruga-san?" Kanae asked him, icily.

He realized what he had done and tried to disguise his chuckle as a cough. "Nothing, Kotonami-san. My throat just seems to be dry."

Man, she's cute and she makes Ren Tsuruga nervous. Where has this girl been all my life?, thought Koga as he passed a bottle of water over to Ren, who accepted it gratefully.

When the scene was set, the director called for Ren and Kyoko. They were both buzzing with excitement, having not acted together since Guam. Director Nakamura, who had seen them act together in Dark Moon, was almost hopping out of his skin as he explained the scene to them and told them what he wanted. When they took their places on the set, a couple of makeup artists hastened over to touch them up and fluff Ren's mokomoko. A prop guy brought a green sandbag over near Ren. A green stick had been taped to the side of it. Ren almost laughed aloud at the sight of "Jaken" and his Staff of Two Heads. When they finished, the Director sat back in his chair behind the camera, took a breath, and…

"Action!"

Sesshomaru was walking, and then suddenly stopped. "What do you want with me, witch?" he said over his shoulder, not deigning to turn and look at her.

Kagura smirked behind her fan. "I want what we both want; Naraku, dead."

The Director had a prop guy to the side, calling out Jaken's lines. "And what makes you think Lord Sesshomaru cares about Naraku!? Lord Sesshomaru is way more powerful than Naraku could ever hope to be! Naraku is not a threat to Lord Sessho–" the prop guy stopped suddenly and stared in open-mouthed shock.

Ren had ripped the stick off of the side of the bag and slammed it down hard on top of it, prompting everyone watching to stare, stunned, and then break up into a fit of laughter. When the Director recovered, he called out to him. "Ren-san, that was not in the script, but it was BRILLIANT! We're keeping it. We'll have to re-shoot Kyoko-chan's reaction. No fault of yours, Kyoko-chan! None of us were expecting that."

Kyoko had lost her mind, remembering what Ren had said the previous day about treating the sandbag as if it were Sho. When he struck the bag, she had stared dumbfounded for a second and then laughed until her ribs hurt. Unbeknownst to her, that had been Ren's entire goal. He was wildly excited that he had succeeded in cheering her up, if only for the moment.

They got everyone to calm down and continued. Kagura stared boredly at Jaken. Sesshomaru tossed the Staff of Two Heads down beside him. "No one asked you to speak, Jaken." he said coldly.

Kagura approached him, each step a seduction. "The imp is right, though. You're probably the only one who would be able to stop him, at least until he gets the whole Shikon Jewel." Sesshomaru regarded her with an aloof expression as she circled him, moving like a leaf on the breeze. "Once he gets the jewel though, it's over for everyone, including you."

"You think that I, Lord Sesshomaru, fear a half-demon with a shiny rock?"

Kagura came to stand in front of him and smirked up at him. Though they weren't touching, the Director had to loosen his collar; you could cut the sexual tension in the air with a knife. Her eyes locked on his. "I think you have no fear, and that will be your undoing." She took a step back from him. "Or, maybe you'll kill him just to prove you can. I certainly wouldn't complain if you did."

Sesshomaru hmphed. "Such a thing is beneath me."

Kagura chuckled behind her fan. "I figured you'd say something like that. If you change your mind, though," she snapped her fan shut, her red eyes flashing, "I look forward to the show."

"CUT." The Director ran onto the set, waving his arms excitedly. "THAT WAS AMAZING! WE GOT THAT IN ALMOST ONE TAKE, AND ONLY BECAUSE REN IS BRILLIANT AND MADE THE SCENE EVEN BETTER! AND KYOKO-CHAN, YOU WERE SO SEXY, SO PERFECT! WELL DONE!" He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped at his eyes and forehead. "This is going to be incredible when it hits theaters! Just incredible!" He was almost sobbing.

After they finished, Kyoko's day wrapped a few hours earlier than everyone else's, and she steeled herself for what was to come up at the ryokan. She had decided to confront Sho while Ren wasn't around; it was easier to deal with him on her own. She made her way up to the building and opened the door.

She checked the hallway, and then went to her room. When she opened the door, she found that she wasn't alone. She shut the door behind her.

"Shotarou."

He gave a lazy salute from where he was laying, propped up on his elbow on her futon, watching TV.

"I've been waiting for most of the day. You probably had to do a million takes, loser."

She took a breath; arguing with him that she had actually done most of her scenes in one take would be fruitless.

"Why are you here?"

He smirked and got up from the futon. "Glad you asked that. While you were out, I did some snooping." He pulled Ren's necklace out of his pocket, and Kyoko stared at it with what she hoped was a disinterested face, though she was panicking internally.

"What's that?"

His eyes narrowed on her. "This? Why, Kyoko, I'm surprised you don't know. This is one of the most coveted National Treasures of the single women of Japan. This is Ren Tsuruga's necklace."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why do you have Tsuruga-san's necklace?"

He shook his head. "No, Kyoko. The question I'm asking is why do you have Tsuruga-san's necklace?"

She imitated Ren's shrug to the best of her ability. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sho's face broke into a sadistic smile. "Oh? Then it just turned up in here? Maybe he dropped it? Right into your suitcase? But then, what was he doing in your bedroom, I wonder? But it means nothing to you is what you're saying, right?"

She shrugged again. "It's not mine."

Sho dropped it on the floor, and positioned his foot over it. "Then I guess I could just break it, huh?" He picked up his foot to stomp it, and Kyoko summoned up Momiji and dived for it. She rolled away, righted herself, and shoved it into the pocket of her jeans. She sent a silent thank you to Kotetsu Uesugi for endowing her with that skill.

The resulting laugh that came from Sho was cruel. "So it is true. You're dating that hack actor."

"No, we aren't."

Sho got in her face. "Oh, you're not dating? But I can see it. You're in love with him, aren't you, Kyoko?" She couldn't help the hurt that came over her face. They had technically had a date. But was that enough to cement them as a couple? Was that what Ren really wanted?

Sho continued. "Let me guess. He doesn't want anyone to know about you, huh? Doesn't want anyone to know that he's dating mousy little Kyoko Mogami, the plain girl with no ass and tits. Bet the press would have a field day with that. I can see the headlines now. 'Ren Tsuruga Forsakes Kana Kusunoki for Nameless Talento'." He saw the doubt taking over her face and smirked. "Don't forget our bet, Kyoko. You fell in love with him, and that means your ass stays here." He left the room and shut the door behind him.

Kyoko stared numbly at the door for a moment, and then left the room. Her phone, which had fallen out of her back pocket when she had saved Ren's necklace, lay forgotten on the floor.

MANY THANKS AND ALL MY LOVE to everybody still reading this. ;-; I feel like a queen among chickens. - BO