Kyouko's day ended early as she had requested. Yashiro who was still trying to get back on her good side had worked hard to arrange her schedule so she would have extra time to finish her plans for her birthday. Maria of course had been glued to her all day and went home with her after work. Kuon had sulked when he learned that Kyouko would be spending the night in her room with the younger girl.
Kanae, Chiori, and Kana had been recruited tonight as well. They had a menu to finish, and then Kyouko wanted to mix some drinks for Kana and Kuon to try. Maria had insisted they work at Kuon's because he had a better kitchen out of all of them except her. If they had gone to her place though they would have to deal with her grandfather. Kyouko accepted the excuse though she knew the child only wanted to spend time with Kuon.
"So, we have these hors d'oeuvres here to decide on and then there's the desserts Maria and I will be frosting as soon as they cool." Kyouko said after placing all the platters of tiny food on the table for the three women to sample.
Kanae made a face at all the decadent food before her and Chiori pat her shoulder in solidarity. When they agreed to help with the party planning, they hadn't expected to be subjected to being taste testers. Kanae sighed and took the first bite then moaned at how delicious it was. No matter how she looked at it Kyouko's cooking talents were wasted on Tsuruga. Kana and Chiori followed suit resolved to diet until the actual party.
"Oh my god I hate you." Kanae said before taking more food.
"Why does it have to taste so good?" Chiori asked hiding her mouth behind her hand as she chewed.
"Kyouko-chan can I have the recipe for this one?" Kana asked eating a phyllo cup filled with shrimp and cream sauce. Prepared for this Kyouko flipped through the recipe journal she wrote all her recipes in. "And the stuffed peppers?" The journal was blue and had Tinkerbell motifs on the cover and in the corner of every page.
"Here." Kyouko said letting Kana take pictures of her recipes.
"Cute notebook." Chiori said trying to pace herself in her taste testing.
"Thank you. Ren's father sent it to me." Kyouko said as truthfully as she could.
"Tsuruga-san has parents?" Chiori felt stupid immediately after the words left her mouth. Obviously Tsuruga Ren would have parents but Chiori had a tough time imagining elderly Tsuruga's. She thought of her own mother's withered face and tried to mentally put an aged filter over Ren's face but the age lines and natural highlights in his hair didn't suit him.
"Everyone has parents somewhere Chiori." Kanae said knowing that Kyouko was always awkward and uncomfortable when the topic of Ren's parents came up. All Kanae knew for certain was that they loved Kyouko and she had gotten that information from Ren.
"I can't imagine an aged Tsuruga-san or a child Tsuruga-san for that matter. What must he have been like as a kid? Probably as prim and proper as I imagine Kyouko-chan was." Kana said thinking the two matched so well.
"He liked to play in the woods." Kyouko said fondly recalling their brief time together as kids.
"Kyouko, you liked to play in the woods too. You still do, I caught you frolicking with fairies when we filmed a scene in the park last week." Chiori pointed.
"The park is not the woods and I was not frolicking." she said then with a regal air she said, "We were holding a meeting about Ren's birthday present." Then she motioned to the appetizers on the table. "You came over to help not talk about the fairy folk."
"I don't know what's in the bacon things but if you serve them at the party I won't be there." Kanae said even as she ate another bacon wrapped water chestnut. Kyouko and Maria had made twenty of them and Kanae had eaten nearly half.
"The pesto crostini are good, but I also love these nectarine and cheese crostini." Kana said crunching into another one.
"What if we do both but cut the number we make in half? We had planned on five hundred of one, but we could do two fifty of each." Maria said then at Kana's approval she wrote it down in her planner. "Extra bacon chestnuts for Kanae-san too." She said impishly and giggled when Kanae groaned. "Chiori-san?"
Chiori looked up and covered her mouth again as she worked on eating the stuffed mushroom in her mouth. She gave Maria a thumbs up and pointed at all the food in front of her. Maria rolled her eyes and wrote unhelpful next to Chiori's name.
Kyouko giggled then stood up and said, "Maria-chan lets go get ready to frost the cookies."
"Yes, Onee-sama." Maria said jumping up to happily follow Kyouko to the kitchen.
They had baked sugar cookies, and lemon cookies, and made bite sized cheesecakes. Maria followed Kyouko's instructions and made the icing for the cookies. Then they set out to frost the cooled cookies. As she prepared the frosting bags with their tips Kyouko spied Maria glancing at her as though she had something to say.
"Did you want to ask me something Maria-chan?" Kyoko asked filling the bag.
Jumping slightly Maria donned a sheepish smile and asked, "Did you decide if you were inviting Yayoi-san or not?"
"Yayoi-san and I have spoken about it and she wishes both of us to have happy birthdays but there is a yearly Christmas celebration at the ryokan. My present will arrive in the mail." Kyouko said without emotion.
She suspected that Yayoi-san would have liked to see her on Christmas but there was too much to do at the ryokan. There was also the small hint of disappointment in Yayoi's voice the last time they had spoken about Shou not being invited. She was Shou's mother after all and still held out hope that Kyouko would choose him. It couldn't be helped though since Shou was likely to cause a scene and steal all the attention for himself. It was in his nature to always want the spotlight and he especially couldn't stand if Kyouko had more than him. Kyouko would not let him ruin Maria's or her birthdays. Not to mention Kuon would definitely kill him then.
"Why don't you invite Fuwa-san? Do you still hate him?" Maria asked unable to understand why Kyouko even liked Shou to begin with.
"I don't hate him." Kyouko said honestly then added. "I don't particularly like him either. In any case I think he'll be busy on Christmas. He made a point to give me my present already."
Maria's face scrunched up and she set down her frosting bag. "If you don't hate him but you don't like him, then what do you feel for him?"
Smiling sadly Kyouko said, "I guess I feel grateful towards him. There was a time when he was the only person my age who was nice to me, not extremely nice, but I can appreciate him for being my friend. Now though all he does is give me a headache so I would like to limit our time together." He had also taught her what love wasn't which enabled her to learn what love was supposed to be.
"I think I'll start on the drinks." She prepared various drinks in different cups all of which she had borrowed from Kuon's collection. It was unclear to her why he needed so many assorted shapes and sizes of cups and alcohol when all he ever seemed to drink was whiskey.
"So, you're not inviting him because you don't want him there not because Ren-sama hates him?" Maria asked suddenly causing Kyouko to spill a drink she was pouring.
"Did Ren tell you to ask that?" Kyouko asked and Maria froze.
The two girls stared at one another for a moment then Maria said. "No. I do notice things you know. I'm not so young that I can't see the way you act around him."
"How do I act around him?" Kyouko asked tilting her head in contemplation.
"Like a child." Maria said irritably. "You two get close to each other and it's like you're in your own little world. You don't act like the mature Onee-sama I know and love."
Kyouko smiled sadly at Maria and apologized. Shou always knew how to rile her up and she didn't know how to act like an adult around him.
"I didn't give up Ren-sama to you for you to ditch him for that talentless jerk." Maria grumbled.
"Shou isn't talentless." Kyouko defended then with a sigh she shoved the automatic response aside and said, "I will never leave Ren for anyone. And I can assure you that I will never be so stupid as to go out with a jerk like Shou."
"Promise?" Maria asked eyes cast down to hide her fear.
Kyouko bent down to make eye contact with the girl and said, "I love Ren. In fact, I'll let you in on a secret."
"What?" Maria asked a little more cheerful to be included in on something private.
"I already agreed to be his wife." Kyouko whispered then held a finger to her lips.
A bright smile lit up Maria's face and she gasped, "Really?"
"Yes."
Kuon walked into his apartment and saw three women grumbling as they stuffed food into their mouths with irritated moans. He shook his head grateful that Kyouko had friends who would test her food. As delectable as it was, he knew his stomach wouldn't be able to handle sampling all the different types of food. Silently he sneaked into the kitchen to find his two of his favorite people. He overheard Kyouko whisper that she would be his wife and his smile was as bright as Maria's.
He watched the two return to their separate tasks as he leaned on the doorframe. He was reminded of his childhood when he would watch his parents cook. Except Maria was actually helping whereas his mom had always gotten in his dad's way. His dad never complained though or made her feel bad for being horrible at cooking he always smiled and lied by telling her she had improved a lot. Kyouko was like his dad in that way, always patient and kind. When Kuon was little, he thought he'd be like his dad and marry someone like his mom, but it seemed the opposite had come true. Thinking about it for a moment he decided that he liked this better.
"You need a little more red." Kyouko instructed Maria as the younger girl mixed color into her icing.
"Does Ren-sama like sugar cookies?" Maria asked then pointed to another batch of cooling cookies. "Or do you think he'll prefer the lemon cookies?"
"He doesn't really like either." Kyouko replied then after thinking for a moment she said. "He doesn't like any food in particular."
"True but I had been hoping you had found something he likes." Maria said solemnly.
"He'll eat one of each." Kyouko said with a shrug.
Maria rolled her eyes. "Duh, he'd do anything to make you happy."
"It doesn't make me happy when he stands there and spies on us." Kyouko grumbled and Kuon jumped out of his contemplations.
"I was simply admiring my beautiful princess." Kuon said earning a blush from Kyouko and making Maria giggle at how mushy they were.
Kyouko went to his open arms and snuggled against his chest whispering, "Welcome home."
"Glad to be home." He said kissing her hair and hugging her tight.
"Even though there's a room full of women here?" she asked suddenly unsure of herself for inviting her friends to his place.
"Darling you can invite anyone you want over. Throw a dinner party, I don't care. As long as you're here." He said and smiled at Maria who was waiting as patiently as she could for her hug. "Added bonus I get to see my other favorite young lady."
Maria lit up and ran for his arms nearly colliding with Kyouko before she could duck out of the way.
"Should I take those to the table?" Kuon asked carrying Maria back to the counter and pointing to the prepared drinks.
"That would be helpful." Kyouko answered and watched as Maria jumped down to return to frosting the cookies.
He gathered the drinks on a tray and leaned down to kiss Kyouko before balancing the tray in his hands the way she had taught him. Careful not to spill anything he carried the tray to the table where Kana and Chiori were fighting over the last appetizers and Kanae had her head down holding her stomach.
"I'll take those." He said snatching the food from between Kana and Chiori and replacing the plate with the tray of drinks. It was a testament to her good coking that he found himself irked that they had barely left anything for him.
"Ooh." Kana delighted at the sight of the colorful drinks. "That girl could outcook more than half of the chefs on TV. If she weren't such an amazing actress, I'd offer to buy a restaurant and make her the head chef. Of course, her skills are completely wasted on you."
Kuon remarked, "Jealousy will age you." Then he popped an appetizer into his mouth with a smirk.
"You know that she's…"
"Too good for me? Trust me I'm aware. I've always known that I don't deserve Kyouko but in case you were worried I'd forget I will assure you that Kotonami-san reminds me at least once a day. Even if she didn't Kyouko does that too simply by being her perfect self." He told her polishing off the shrimp cups.
Kana took a sip of a drink and glared at him over her cup. "What exactly is there between her and Fuwa Shou?"
"Fuwa Shou is a nuisance." Kanae said suddenly lifting her head. "Has he been messing with her on set? I knew I should have visited and threatened him."
"Threats don't work on that insect. I already tried several times but he's too obsessed with Kyouko to care." Chiori said with a growl.
"You threatened him too?" Kana asked surprised then all three women turned to look at Kuon with questioning eyes.
"I've been threatening him since before Kyouko and I started dating. He doesn't care and what's worse is she seems to encourage the behavior. It's irritating to say the least." Kuon said glancing over his shoulder to make sure Kyouko had not come out of the kitchen. "Now she's agreed to spend more time alone with him for the songs that production wants. Well, she was rather reluctant to agree to it. She's also pretty pissed at Yashiro-san for allowing the meeting to happen without asking her first."
"Alone?! Won't Yashiro-san be with her?" Kana asked.
"He'll try but he won't be able to stay with her all the time and Shoko-san will most likely leave them alone once Yukihito leaves." Kuon said grasping the stem of one of the wine glasses and downing the drink. "The Ishibashi-nii-san have agreed to be there when they can also."
"Me too, I'll hang out with them when I can." Chiori volunteered. "Kanae too."
"Don't decide for me." Kanae grumbled though they all knew she would do it.
"It's settled than, we'll all ruin any plans Fuwa-san has to harass Kyouko-chan." Kana said before choosing a new drink to sample.
Kanae fell back on the floor moaning about her stomach and Chiori poked her in the side with a giggle as Kuon and Kana continued to sample drinks. They were just about done when Maria and Kyouko appeared with more trays of food and drinks. Awed by her ability to balance multiple trays Kuon and their guests stared at Kyouko as she seemed to glide over to his side and set down her trays. Maria was decidedly less graceful, but she managed to carry the tray of cheesecakes over to the table without dropping one.
When the young girl did set down her train she turned a glare at Kana than lightly shoved Kyouko closer to Kuon and placed herself beside Kana.
"I don't see why you have to keep up the fake dating." Maria said picking up a cookie and popping it into her mouth. "Have you not read the threads on your fan site? The majority of your fans believe you would be happier with Kyouko. They make collages of your facial expressions and analyze how happy you look with Onee-sama versus Kana-san." She made a face as she said Kana's name. "There're essays on how much more suited the two of you are for each other based on past roles and your birth signs and hobbies."
Kuon stared blankly at Maria's phone as she brought up the recently created fan site. The background was pink and glittery and when you clicked on a link heart graphics littered the screen before opening the thread.
"Fans can be really scary." He said hiding how happy he secretly was. A site dedicated to them would only make it easier to come out as a couple when they decided to. It also happened to be filled with adorable photos of Kyouko by herself and with him. He was already planning on saving them all to his phone.
Kana looked down at her drink a secret smile on her face. It felt so good to be one of the creators of the fan site until Kyouko's next words killed her pride.
"We should probably talk to Yashiro-san to see if he can get it taken down." Kyouko said reading some of the comments. There was one poster who seemed to hate Tsuruga Ren more than anything in the world. The language the commenter used reminded her of an idiot she'd rather not think about while having a pleasant get together with friends. He would call himself MusicGod. Kyouko thought rolling her eyes.
"If we make a fuss about a fan site the fans will get even more suspicious." Kuon said picking up a cookie. Kana smiled happy that at least one half of her favorite couple liked the fan site.
"They're not suspicious, they're hopeful." Maria said cheerfully typing away on a thread about what type of animal Kyouko and Ren would have. "Do you like cats or dogs Onee-sama?" She asked bringing up some images of puppies. "I like this one the best." She showed Kyouko one of a chocolate lab begging for a treat. To her confusion Kyouko blushed at the question and refused to answer.
"You don't like pets Kyouko-chan?" Chiori asked trying to recall if Kyouko had ever mentioned liking animals.
"She does." Kuon said fighting the grin that threatened to give away his wicked thoughts.
With a glare in his direction Kyouko composed herself and said, "I was never allowed to have a pet growing up. I suppose I never thought about it because I didn't like to think about things that I would never have." Then with a mischievous grin she said, "Ren loves animals especially tiny, cute ones. Don't you Tsuruga-senpai?"
"Yes, I do cuddle bear." Kuon said and reveled in the immediate redness in her cheeks.
Kanae and Kana both noticed the reaction and resolved to grill Kyouko about it later. Chiori was too busy searching for the fan site on her phone and Maria was confused by the nickname and Kyouko's odd behavior.
"Ren-sama you like bears? But they aren't cute and tiny…" Maria mused over the thought of a forever small bear cub. She just didn't know enough about the species to know if there were types of bears that remained tiny and cute forever.
"I like all animals really. Bears, chipmunks," he said as if contemplating then in a deep voice said, "Cats."
"Cats!" Maria said sounding hopeful. "I love cats. Cute little fluffy ones and large ones with shiny sleek coats. What about dogs."
"Kyouko loves dogs." Kuon said and Maria cocked her head as Kyouko squeaked and turned even more red hiding behind her hands.
Maria not understanding Kyouko's reactions asked, "Onee-sama could have a pet here, couldn't she? You like pets so won't you let her have one?"
"Maria-chan!" Kyouko gasped holding up her hands. She was afraid that Kuon would say that he was her pet, and he would be jealous if she got a fluffy one. He remained silent however there was a smirk on his face that let Kyouko know he had thought the words.
"Maria-chan," Kana started, catching the look between the couple. "Tsuruga-san and Kyouko-chan are much too busy for a pet."
"Yes, we are." Kyouko agreed. "There is a lot that goes into having a pet, like obedience training and grooming, and apartment fees, and then we'd have to decide on a breed and a name and…" Kyouko suddenly stopped and looked at Kuon who raised a brow at her.
Maria didn't seem to notice Kyouko's slip up and she pressed on. "You could get a cat. A nice little tabby or better yet a black cat. I suppose you could get some fish." Maria made a face but got up and ran over to the wall. "You could put in one of those custom tanks and get a baby shark!"
"No thank you." Kyouko and Kuon said in unison. Maria giggled in response taking her seat at the table again. She dropped the topic and returned to the forums.
Chiori smiled as she read through the various topics and found that the public image of Kyouko was rather favorable. She searched through and found a fashion thread and swooned over the comments.
I'm not certain if this outfit is cute or if Kyouko-chan is so pretty that she makes it looks good. One user said and there was an image of Kyouko in a questionable outfit but the poster was right, Kyouko somehow made it look good.
Shaking her head, she scrolled through the comments complimenting Kyouko's return to her natural hair color and the cute bob cut. That was something she agreed with as the color accented her eyes better. Eventually Chiori stumbled on a thread which surprised her because it was all about her and her friendship with Kyouko. Within the thread she found a link leading to a fan site dedicated to the three Love Me girls. There were tests to find out which girl you were, and threads dissecting their personalities based on eye color, style, and even roles they played. Chiori found that there was a whole section dedicated to who each girl could potentially be dating and who fans would prefer they were dating.
"Wow, I never realized how many suitors you have Kyouko-chan." She said scrolling through the many names. "Koga-san, all three members of bridge rock, Kijima-san… even some people I never knew that you knew."
"They're not suitors just because I know them." Kyouko said as Chiori turned the phone to her and she saw Cedric listed as one of the candidates. "I don't even like some of them as human beings let alone as love interests. At least two of those people are hateful evil devil spawn."
"I'd say more than two but that's just me." Kuon said wishing he could gain access to the forum and remove everything about Cedric. Just seeing his name in association with Kyouko was enough to make his stomach churn.
"Well, Fuwa and VieGhoul aside Tsuruga-san appears to have a lot of competition at least from the fan's viewpoint." Chiori said going through the forum again to find the test. She wanted to know how accurate it was.
"Can we watch a movie?" Kana asked tasting her third drink. "This one is a bit too sweet Kyouko."
"If you want." Kuon said irked by the previous topic and the way Kyouko blushed.
Kanae smirked at his expression before covering her eyes with her arm and pretending to not listen to their conversation. They let Maria pick a movie as Kuon and Kana continued to sample drinks with Kyouko sneaking sips from Kuon's glass. She wrote down their comments until the glasses were all empty then she took them back to the kitchen.
"What name did you pick for the pet you never imagined having?" Kuon asked sneaking into the kitchen behind her.
"Princess Cindy." Kyouko said easily not even startled by his presence. "Or Snow, there was also Jasmine, and Kida or Nala." She faced toward the sink not wanting to see his wide knowing grin. "They were all cats except Cindy who was a keeshond."
He stared silently at the back of her head for a moment before she explained. "It's a medium sized dog that is supposed to be really friendly yet easy to groom."
"Thank you. So, one dog and four cats?" Kuon asked thinking of a way to make her dream a reality.
"No." Kyouko said plainly. She didn't want him to go out and get her a pet and she didn't want the added responsibility of raising a pet. "I'm busy right now."
"But maybe someday, a cat?" Kuon asked tentatively while he gently pushed the glasses out of her hands and into the sink and placed his hands on her hips.
"Maybe someday." Kyouko agreed leaning back hoping for a forehead kiss.
Happily, Kuon obliged and pressed his lips to her head. Her smile widened and her hands held his making him hug her tighter.
"For now, you'll just have to settle for your puppy." He joked before whining in her ear and giving it a lick.
"I happen to like my puppy. Even if he is a big dork." She said earning a husky chuckle in her ear.
"Let's leave the dishes. I'll call down for maid service while we're at work tomorrow." Kuon said trying to pull her away from the sink.
"That is an atrocious waste of money." Kyouko protested but he knew exactly what to say to make her let it go.
"You're ignoring your guests right now." As soon as the words left his mouth, she gasped ashamed of herself. "Come on." He said taking her hand and leading her back out to the living room.
When they got halfway through their second movie and Maria had passed out in Kyouko's lap Kuon decided it was time to call it a night. He looked at his droopy eyed girlfriend and nodded at the couch. Unable to resist she lazily slithered onto the couch once he had lifted the smaller girl off of her. Kyouko was out instantly and he carried Maria to Kyouko's room where Kana had already wandered to after her seventh or eighth drink. He left Maria on the opposite bed and stole two pillows and two blankets from a cupboard in the room. Careful not to wake anyone he covered Chiori and Kanae and slipped the pillows beneath their heads.
"Thank you." Kyouko mumbled and Kuon kissed her forehead.
Too tired to carry her to their room he stretched himself out beneath her by the couch. The thought of her rolling over and falling on him in her sleep brought a smile to his face. Before his eyes drifted closed her hand drifted down to rest over his heart and he placed his hand over it. This was how Kanae found them in the morning, blissfully asleep holding hands. She made a face at her friends mushy display of love before sneaking to the kitchen to clean up.
