"Milady." A seductive voice crooned as a rose was held in front of her face.

Kyouko snatched the rose and glared up at the man in the pleather catsuit. He smirked at her green eyes sparkling with mischief. Her frown deepened when she made it to the flaxen hair and she smacked his face with the rose.

"Why are you impersonating Chat Noir?" she asked as his face fell. "What happened to the maid costume?"

"How do you know I'm not the real Chat Noir?" he countered unwilling to give up his game.

"He texted me twenty minutes ago to say he would be here at midnight." She said unable to contain her smile as Kijima wilted. "I thought you were going to find a master Fu costume. You said he was a super cool old dude."

"Your president said he's master Fu. He also said it might be fun to be the imposter Chat Noir to tease you." Kijima grumbled, "But you didn't fall for it at all."

"Tsuruga-san is taller, and his shoulders are broader. You have a more sloped nose with smaller nostrils and your lips are shaped…." She trailed off at Kijima's confused look.

"Kyouko-chan have you been studying my features?" he asked is a teasingly flirtatious tone.

"For research. Only for acting purposing." She said waving her hands in front of her. Then contritely she added, "Also maybe to complete my doll collection. But I wasn't going to sell any of them. I just wanted all my friends."

Beaming proudly Kijima said, "I'm important enough to be a doll in your collection."

"You know Tsuruga-san is wearing a tuxedo, right? We're masquerade Ladybug and Chat Noir. That's why I'm wearing a dress." Kyouko said sidestepping his question.

"You're blushing." Kijima teased poking her cheeks just below her ladybug mask. "You look good in polka dots. Normally I find them tacky or childish, but this dress is cute on you. Let me see." He motioned for her to spin so he could see the entire dress.

Rolling her eyes, she humored him and did a twirl to show off the asymmetrical skirt of her red and black polka dot dress. The president had it made for her, so the fitted bust emphasized her slim waist making her breasts look larger than they actually were. She had liked this at first, but once people had started to arrive, she started to feel self-conscious. There were no sleeves to the dress and that only served to emphasize her chest more as the bodice hugged her waist and pushed her breasts up.

Luckily, Koga had taken pity on her and insisted she open his present early. It wasn't much coverage, but the sheer black shawl helped her to feel more at ease.

"Careful we wouldn't want to add fuel to the rumors about us." Kijima teased even though they both knew he had contributed to those rumors. The man loved to be paired off with beautiful women even if they were just his friends.

"Tsuruga-san." Kyouko said looking behind Kijima.

He jumped in response and quickly took two steps away from her. She giggled earning an exasperated look from him.

"That was mean. You know I have no desire to incur his wrath." Kijima stated pouting.

"Then why do you flirt with and tease me so much?" she asked though she knew he meant nothing by it.

"You're pretty." He said with a shrug but took another step back.

"Flirting again, Kijima-san?" Kana questioned playfully as she placed an arm around Kyouko's shoulders.

Kana's dress was purposefully similar to Kyouko's in style and color. Only eagle eyes would see the difference in height. Even though Kyouko wore heels and Kana wore flats the older woman was still slightly taller. Kyouko's dress had smaller spots and her short hair was down, but even Kijima had to look closely to spot the differences between the more mature Kana and demure Kyouko.

"Careful, Kyouko-chan, Ren might not be able to tell the difference." Kijima joked but he didn't doubt that Ren could pick Kyouko out of a room full of Ladybugs if he had to.

"None of his fans are going to be fooled." Kanae said walking over to them with a plate of bacon wrapped chestnuts. "These things are evil by the way."

"What? Those are the best." Kijima said stealing one off her plate and popping it into his mouth.

"Get your own food imposter chat." Kanae said swatting at him.

Taking her advice Kijima bowed to them before running off to get more food. Kanae rolled her eyes at the flirtatious look he sent her way. Kyouko giggled as he brought his hands up in her direction praying for help with Kanae.

"Wait, don't eat it all without me!" Kana said running after him.

"I saw him flirting with your friend what's her name, the one from Dark Moon." Kanae said unsure if Kyouko was plotting to try to talk him up to her.

"Momose-san or Oohara-san?" Kyouko asked.

Kanae scowled saying, "See that's why I can't take his flirting seriously. Chiori-chan thinks it's so cute that he likes me, but I hope you know that I don't."

"Moko-san! Do you honestly think I would ever help Kijima-san flirt with you? He's our friend but he's a shallow playboy." Kyouko said though what she really wanted to say was how cute Kanae looked with her fox ears and the backless orange, white, and black dress.

Kyouko admired the black collar that connected to the bust of the dress with a replica of the foxtail miraculous used for transforming in the show. The president had them specially made for his love me girls and Kuon. She didn't even want to think of the price for the custom jewelry. Kanae turned slightly to look for Maria as it was coming close to midnight and she hadn't given the child her present yet. As she moved Kyouko spotted the tail attached to the dress and bounced on her toes wanting to swat at it. The tail was longer than the flowy white and orange skirt and Kyouko could see that it irritated Kanae whenever it hit the back of her legs.

"Why do you get to wear dresses?" A grumpy voice asked as Yashiro walked over to them clad in a green jumpsuit with a hoodie. Kyouko didn't want to tell him how adorable he looked in his carapace costume, but he could see it written all over her face anyway. "This turtle shell is cumbersome."

"The president was probably just messing with you." Kanae said flipping her curled hair over her shoulder. "He berated me for not wanting to wear the mask."

"You look cute with the mask." Kyouko said noting the way Yashiro blushed. "Yashiro-san tell her she looks cute with the mask."

Yashiro stood up straighter and after stuttering over some unintelligible words he managed to say, "The mask suits you."

Kanae fixed Kyouko with a glare. She could tell that her friend was plotting something.

Yashiro checked his watch then turned to Kyouko and said, "There's a bathroom down that hall over there."

"Right?" Kyouko said nodding with confusion.

Yashiro gave her a look and tilted his head in the direction he wanted her to go. Catching his meaning Kanae rolled her eyes. He motioned again with his head jerking it so hard that Kanae feared he might give himself whiplash.

"Kyouko, I think you need to go use the restroom." Kanae said dryly.

"I don't." Kyouko replied then she remembered something. "I do need to go to the kitchen to check on everything. Then Okami-san said she had something she needed to tell me. Her and Taisho-san should be here any minute so I should greet them and see what she needed."

"No, you need to go to the bathroom. Now. Before your manager breaks his neck." Kanae said lightly shoving Kyouko towards the hall where the bathroom was.

"Ok?" Kyouko said not catching on to what they were up to. Her brain was too preoccupied with making plans to fix them up together.

Kanae raised a brow at Yashiro who shrugged and said, "Ren messaged me saying that there was a present for her in that hallway."

"I hope he doesn't plan on," she searched for a word that didn't sound disgusting. Unable to think of one she said, "He better not plan on doing it in the bathroom."

Yashiro glared at her losing his blush and said, "Ren would never. Not for her first time anyway, especially since he promised her, he'd make it special."

"Not her first time, but you know that after tonight we're going to have to pull them off each other everywhere we go." Kijima said popping back up with a plate piled high with hors d'oeuvres.

"As if that's anything new." Yashiro said deflating as he saw the way Kijima looked at Kanae.

Kanae cocked her head and made a disgusted face. "You don't think they'll settle down after tonight? I had hoped they would be sated at least for a bit." She said not understanding why they couldn't contain themselves to the bedroom.

Wouldn't they get sick of each other like normal couples? She blanched thinking about her siblings and all their children. She hoped that Kyouko didn't end up like that.

"For some people once in a while may be enough." Kijima said contemplatively. "For some people the bed is all the adventure they need. Not those two though. Not with how many times I'm sure we've all caught them making out. No, those two are the adventurous, "let's try it once to see if we like it," type. I'm so happy for my dearest friend Ren. He finally found his match."

Kanae grimaced, "I'm going to be subjected to all the details of their adventures." She said with horror in her voice.

Stepping into the dim hallway Kyouko swallowed hard. When she had gotten halfway there it finally clicked in her brain that Kuon must have told Yashiro to send her over. Her palms began to sweat, and she had to take deep breathes to keep herself from panicking. Was he going to corner her at the party and have his way with her? Was he having second thoughts about tonight? Was he having second thoughts about their entire relationship? The longer she walked down the hallway the more scenarios her brain invented. She was so lost in thought that she missed the figure leaning against the wall.

A chuckle startled her. Stiffening at the sound she slowly turned. Large golden eyes took in the evil grin on the tall mans face. His cold gaze met hers through both of their masks. Kyouko didn't know whether to be frightened or in awe of the man in the Hawk Moth costume. His sinister smile grew just before he lunged at her with his cane. She dodged the attack by doing an impressive flip backwards.

"Don't ruin the dress." A feminine voice scolded as a tall woman dressed in a blue coat with a fluffy blue collar.

"We were only playing." Hawk Moth stated tapping his cane on the floor.

Blinking up at the man Kyouko's apprehension fell away and she leapt into his arms.

"Otou-sama!" She shouted as Kuu caught her in a hug.

Julie stalked over in her elegant peacock dress and placed a hand on Kyouko's shoulder. The younger woman let go of Kuu to leap at Julie. Engulfed in Julie's hug she nearly began to cry, then Kuu wrapped them both in his arms and a tear escaped.

"What are you doing here? Did he say this was okay? You won't get in trouble, will you? I don't want you to be in trouble with him. Especially not because of me." Kyouko suddenly rambled on pulling away from them as her head spun with scenarios of Kuon being angry with his parents. He wouldn't let them call her and they would have to sneak around behind his back because she couldn't just not speak to them. Then he would find out and he'd be hurt and…

Catching her shoulders to keep her from running around in circles Kuu said, "Relax, he said we could come here to see you."

"It was more like he scolded us for not planning on coming. He threatened not to call us for two weeks if we didn't come see you on your birthday." Julie elaborated mumbling something about how spoiled her child was.

"To be safe we won't go out there where anyone can see us. Not that most people will be able to recognize us in these get ups." Kuu said spinning around slowly to show off his purple costume. "The boss really outdid himself." He added adjusting his butterfly brooch.

"Yes, he did." Julie said making a motion for Kyouko to turn so she could get a better look at the dress.

Kyouko obliged her and did a slow spin showing off the flowy skirt that fell to her mid thighs in the front but cascaded to her knees in back. She had wanted to wear black tights with it, but Chiori had convinced her not to stating that she should show off her legs more. Kyouko suspected the president had put her up to it as part of his plan to entice Kuon.

"You look stunning sweetheart." Julie said adjusting the ornate ladybug mask on Kyouko's face.

"Thank you." Kyouko said heart pounding. There was something about the way Julie or the treated her with such warmth that made her heart ache. This woman adored her.

With a hug and a kiss to her hair Julie said, "Happy birthday my sweet girl." Then it was Kuu's turn to crush her to his chest and whisper, "We love you so much. Happy birthday."

"We'll be staying in Tokyo all week and Kuon already promised to have Yashiro-san find some time for you to visit." Julie said holding up a small gift bag. "It isn't much but Kuon gave us a spending limit." She pouted as Kyouko took the bag. "He said we should get something practical as well, but I couldn't resist."

Kyouko peeked inside the bag and gasped when she saw the new limited-edition mouse ears she had been unable to justify spending her money on.

Back at the party Maria was looking around frantically for Kyouko. It would be midnight soon and the birthday girl had gone missing. She hadn't noticed at first thinking that Kyouko had run off to the kitchen again. After twenty minutes had past Maria started to panic. Then thirty minutes went by and Maria had questioned the kitchen staff to no avail. She had gone to the wait staff but none of them had seen her. Chiori mentioned that the last she saw of Kyouko was when she had seen Kijima heading over to flirt with her.

Maria had marched over to Kijima and demanded to know who he thought he was flirting with her big sister.

"What did I do? Why is the kid mad at me?" Kijima asked Hikaru who he had been speaking with about his snakelike tuxedo. He wished he had thought of dressing as Viperion, the snake hero and Chat Noir's rival in love. The mask was so much cooler than Chat Noir's and he wouldn't have to wear the ears or blond wig. Though he wasn't brave enough to color the tips of his hair green.

"You were hitting on Kyouko-chan again playboy." Shinichi said fixing the epaulets of his Jagged Stone costume. Kijima wondered why he was playing the rock star father of Hikaru's character while Yuusei was left grumbling in the crocodile costume.

"Even Hikaru stopped asking her out once he learned about her situation." Yuusei said pulling at the crocodile mask. There was even a collar and leash attached to him leading to Shinichi's hand.

"So, I flirted a little. That doesn't mean anything." Kijima defended himself.

"Well, where is she?" Maria demanded. They had to bring out her cake and sing happy birthday. This was no time for Kyouko to wander into fairy land. At the very least she could have taken Maria with her.

"I left her with Kotonami-san and Yuki-chan." Kijima said holding his hands up in defense. He was not going to be on this child's bad side.

"You know he hates it when you call him that." Yuusei said then volunteered, "We'll all look for Kyouko-chan. Like a scavenger hunt. Whoever finds her gets the first dance."

"Hurry up because the lights go out in ten minutes." Maria barked sending the four men off in search of Kyouko.

The child shook her head as she watched Kijima flit from girl to girl flirting even as he asked if they'd seen Kyouko. She turned to spot Hikaru bowing politely and engaging in a brief conversation before asking director Anna if he had seen Kyouko. Shinichi and Yuusei greeted Momose with a joke about their costume mentioning that Shinichi was going to gift Yuusei to Kyouko as a pet. Maria sighed in exasperation as she realized the adults were no help.

A hand pet her head and a masculine voice said, "I believe I saw a certain spotted hero head off to the bathroom. I'm a bit concerned because she hasn't come back for a while. Would you mind going to check on her."

Maria looked up and blushed seeing Koga in his King Monkey costume. His muscles were on full display as he had chosen to forego the top of the outfit. He had allowed his hair to be colored red and orange with temporary colored wax so it would stick up in the characters spiked style. The crown and mask were all one ornate piece that accentuated his facial features. Maria almost hit herself for thinking he was as handsome as Ren.

Koga pointed in the direction he had seen Kyouko disappear to. He had been trying to find Kanae or Chiori to send after Kyouko, but he only managed to find Maria. As Maria ran off, he hoped that Kyouko hadn't run off on a secret rendezvous with Ren.

"On second thought wait!" he shouted running after the little girl.

The lights shut off just as Kyouko was rushed back to the party by Julie. Everyone gasped when a spotlight shone on a cat eared man in all white with piercing blue eyes and a sinister grin.

"Ladybug, give me your miraculous."

Kyouko's heart pounded as Chat Blanc leapt into the air with a ball of light forming in his hands and he shot it straight at her, or so she thought. The crowd erupted in applause as the spotlight went out and a cake lit up in the center of the room.

"Where is our superhero Ladybug?" The presidents voice roared loudly in the darkness. "Please everyone sing so she will come out to save us from Chat Blanc."

On his order the party goers began to sing happy birthday as the spotlight found Kyouko. She walked slowly to the tall cake wondering how she would be able to blow out all the candles at the top.

"Ne t'inquiète pas Milady." A voice whispered in her ear once she arrived at the cake.

The familiar scent of Kuon's cologne clouded her senses. Then hands lifted her up onto broad firm shoulders and the singing ended. Blushing furiously, she blew out the candles and for a moment all was dark again as all her friends and co-workers clapped. She squeezed her thighs together jumping as a kiss was placed on her inner thigh before she was set back on the floor and the lights came back.

A very blond Chat Noir greeted her from his knees causing her heart to skip. She wanted to scold him for being so recklessly himself and ask how he had changed from the white suit to the black one so quickly. She also wanted to kiss him and touch the blond locks. She ached to run her fingers through his hair to check that it was still soft and unruined. All she could do was take the three yellow roses he held out to her.

"Happy birthday Mogami-san." He said rising up to full height. "May I have the first dance?"

Everyone was watching but she wasn't sure what would be worse; Dancing with Tsuruga Ren or spurning his request?

Kyouko took his hand with a very polite and formal, "you may," as slow music started, and Lory motioned for the lights to be dimmed halfway.

"Did the president hound you to do the Chat Blanc thing and ask me to dance?" Kyouko asked as other people began to join them on the dance floor.

"He did, but he offered to hire someone else to lift you up. I told him that wouldn't be necessary." Kuon said with a grin so wide his ornate black cat mask lifted slightly.

"You are being very dangerous tonight." She said but struggled to keep a stern scowl on her face.

"It's my princess's birthday. I can't help it that makes me happy." Kuon said leaning down for a kiss but Kyouko pulled back. "Sorry, I forgot where we were for a second."

"Liar." She grumbled forcing her blush down. "Thank you for the birthday present. I wasn't expecting them." The happy tears welled up in her eyes and he ached to kiss her cheeks.

"You don't think that was your birthday present, do you? That was for Christmas. We have all night to play happy birthday." Kuon whispered seductively.

"You're trying to make me blush, but it won't work." She said pushing down her emotions.

"Is that a challenge?" He asked daring to lean a little closer.

"Did you get the part?" she changed the subject looking out at the other dancers to make sure they were minding their business.

"Don't sound so glum. You promised to be proud of me." he said pushing her face back to look at him. "I want my princess to be proud of me."

"I am." Kyouko said giving him a weak smile.

They danced in silence for a moment fighting their urge to hug. The president watched them with intense scrutiny and his frown deepened. How could that boy not look down from her face even once? What was the point of getting her a custom dress if Kuon wasn't going to admire her figure in it? Lory was ready to lock the two in a closet together. Romance be damned they required drastic measures.

"Grandfather come dance with me." Maria interrupted his thoughts as she tugged on his red shirt.

Lory lifted the little girl up and walked over to the dance floor. She had spent most of the night with her father and he had to admit that he missed her.

"How was your party?" he asked casually guiding them closer to Kyouko and Kuon.

"Amazing of course, Onee-sama and I planned it. Though you added the thing with the costumes and the light show with Chat Blanc." Maria huffed wishing she had thought of it instead.

"Happy birthday Mogami-san." They heard Kuon say as the song ended.

Lory wondered if he was imagining the intimate look shared between the two. The words spoken were simple and innocent but there seemed to be a flirtatious lilt to Kuon's voice. That meant nothing though as Kyouko didn't even blush. These two were hopeless. No common sense or romantic intelligence.

"Thank you, Tsuruga-san." Kyouko said with a polite bow. Lory sneered earning him a flick in the forehead from his granddaughter. "You should eat something." Kyouko said to Kuon who bowed his head taking it as an order.

"Leave them alone grandpa." Maria hissed knowing that he would do something drastic if she didn't keep him in check. "You can't force people to be together. That isn't love or romance that's you treating them like a video game."

Lory pouted and handed his granddaughter over to uncle Tiger he was about to ask if he could cut in.

Kuon sought out Kana who he knew was holding the food Kyouko had reserved for him. At this point he didn't know who was using who. Was Kana benefiting from standing around waiting to be used as a shield? She could be at home with her girlfriend but instead she was on the sidelines watching over Kyouko for him.

"Why so glum?" Kana questioned as he to the plate and leaned against the wall beside her.

"I was just thinking of sending you home." He replied with a shrug.

"Sick of me already? We haven't even been asked about our relationship yet by one of these snoops. Come on, who do you think will ask first? Momose-san absolutely hates me, but she also seems rather confused by the situation. Meanwhile director Ogata," she paused to think for a moment, "He also seems to hate me."

She shook her head holding her hands up feigning despair. "I'm the wicked witch who stole Kyouko-chan's man." She said leaning against him flirtatiously.

"They aren't too happy with me either." He admitted savoring the taste of Kyouko's cooking. He had no clue what it was, but he could tell she had made it not the kitchen staff. It was too good not to be her cooking.

"I'm the wicked demon who spurned Mogami-san." He added when Kana gave him a confused look.

"We're quite the pair then, aren't we?" Kana joked reaching for a crostini off his plate but he pulled it away.

"Don't make me fight you over food, Kana-san." He said quickly popping another bite sized morsal into his mouth. Kyouko would be outraged if she knew how little he had eaten all day to save room for her food.

"Lover's quarrel?" Lory asked in an unamused voice. He couldn't stand the fake dating. It was time for Kuon to let go of his shield and excuses.

"Not at all. I'm just starving from a long day of work." Kuon replied with a bright smile. "Before I forget this is yours." He said pulling out a small but bright light. "That was a cool light trick. I enjoyed being part of it."

"Was that all you enjoyed?" Lory asked raising his brows suggestively.

"What else was there?" Kuon asked feigning innocence, "The costume switch was fun, but I've worn tear away suits before."

Lory clenched his jaw eyes surfing over the crowd to spot Kyouko dancing with Koga now.

"Mogami-kun is lovely tonight, isn't she?" He asked willing himself to remain calm. There was no way Kuon could be so stubborn that he couldn't admit Kyouko was beautiful.

"We can talk about your attempt at objectifying Mogami-san at a later date." Kuon said slightly miffed about the dress that put her boobs on full display. A surge of possessiveness bubbled up within him, but he shoved it down.

"Objectifying?! I would never!" Lory said scandalized. Switching tactics, he pointed out, "Her and Koga-san sure have grown close. I'm glad someone is breaking through that shy exterior."

"Yeah, she deserves to have lots of friends." Kuon said polishing off his plate. Turning to Kana who had been watching the exchange with amusement he asked, "Care to dance babe?" Lory sneered at the casual use of babe. Kuon may be fooling Japan but Lory knew the boy would never use the word for his lover. No Kuon was a starry-eyed fool. He would call her princess if he loved her.

"I'd love to." Kana replied enjoying the irate expression Lory quickly concealed behind a mask of civility.

"Could you take care of this for me Boss?" Kuon asked placing his plate in the president's hands.

Lory clenched the plate as he watched them go until he heard it begin to crack. There was no way he could allow those two idiots to ignore their feelings anymore. He had tried everything from blackmailing their friends to set them up, to conning them into believing it was their idea to play lovers in Oh!Darling. Who did they think had pitched the book adaptation to the producers? If not for him there wouldn't be any fan sites promoting Kyouko as his love interest. He had been steadily planting the seeds and pushing the narrative, but they refused to admit their feelings. Lory stopped for a minute wondering if Maria was right, and he was treating them like characters in one of his games.

"Nope, this is totally different." He concluded his eyes searching for Kanae and Chiori. His Love Me girls would help him get those two together.

By one thirty in the morning Kyouko was exhausted from dancing and having too much fun. She found Yashiro chatting with Director Ogata at a table and requested to join them. Yashiro smiled at her noting that she seemed to regret the heels she was wearing.

"Maria-chan already fell asleep dancing with her father." Yashiro said pointing to Kouki carrying a passed-out Maria.

"Cute." Kyouko said smiling at the scene.

"We could take you home for the night." Yashiro offered despite many of the guests still dancing and merrily chatting. "We all know you are not a night owl or a party animal."

"But it's my birthday, I can't leave before my guests." Kyouko said even though she felt like she could put her head on the table and pass out. "Plus, I completely forgot to find the Okami-san. I feel so bad she said she had something urgent to tell me."

"Kyouko-cha…" the lights and music abruptly cut out startling everyone.

The dancing couples looked up to see what was going on. It had to be another fantastical performance from Miraculous ladybug cosplayers. Or maybe it was some elaborate birthday present for Kyouko.

The naïve guest waited expectantly not knowing that the birthday girl was panicking as she set eyes on the familiar silhouette of a man on the stage.

"Time after time I tell myself that I'm so lucky to be loving you." Kyouko's heart dropped as she heard the familiar voices singing the lyrics she had written.

"Yashiro-san can we go now?" Kyouko said somberly. There was no way he had gotten into her party. No way would he be so cruel as to ruin her birthday.

"So lucky to be the one you run to see in the evening, when the day is through." No way had he taken the words she had written with Kuon in mind and bastardized them with his voice.

"Come on I'll call everyone once we get to the car." Yashiro said already putting a glove on his hand.

"Goodnight Director Ogata." Both talent and manager said bowing out as they quickly left the party.

Kuon clenched his fists and jaw as he listened to Fuwa sing. Yashiro had informed him that he had taken Kyouko to the car already and Kanae had dragged a fuming Chiori out as well. It was just him and Kana waiting to make their exit as casually as possible. Though Kuon had no intention of leaving without confronting Fuwa.

"And time after time you'll hear me say that I'm so lucky to be loving you. Yes, so lucky to be the one you run to see in the evening, when the day is through."

Kuon shoved his way towards the stage but a strong hand grabbed his shoulder and a voice seethed in his ear, "You'll ruin Kyouko-chan's birthday if you pull him off that stage. It's what he wants."

"Let go Hidehito." Kuon growled but Hikaru stepped in front of him, and Shinichi placed a hand on his other shoulder.

"He isn't worth it." Yuusei said removing his mask.

"Punching him would be worth losing a few fans. My reputation can take it." Kuon said sounding cockier than any of them had thought him capable of.

"What about her reputation?" Hikaru asked causing Kuon to back down.

"…hear me say that I'm so lucky to be loving you." Shou finished the song then spoke in a calm confident voice. "My label might punish me for this, but I can no longer hide my feelings. Kyouko, I have to officially announce that I love you."
"I'm gonna kill him myself." Kijima said as many of the guests awed as though it were romantic.

"Not if I beat you to it." Hikaru said through gritted teeth.

The group of men turned to jump on the stage, but the lights came on to reveal a cardboard cutout of Fuwa Shou and a cell phone attached to a speaker.

"Coward didn't even have the balls to show up himself." Koga said into the mic on stage. "I won't be letting him anywhere near Kyouko-chan." He said earning awes from the audience.

Lory had watched the group of men as they surrounded Kuon. The conference had stirred his suspicions, but he didn't believe it could be possible. There was no way Kyouko and Kuon were already together without him noticing. Not unless someone was helping them hide it. He eyed Ruuto, maybe everyone was helping them hide it from him.

"Ren-sama, we should go. Everyone is waiting for us." Kana said placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Just a moment." Kuon said and he walked over to where the Okami-san from Darumaya was glaring up at her husband.

Taisho-san stood tall and stiff as the younger man marched over to him. He regretted nothing. It was clear to him that the actor was a con artist who had seduced Kyouko with lies. Shou had told them all about how Kyouko was secretly living with Tsuruga and the apartment they had visited her in a couple times was actually her best friend's place. It was indecent and amoral for such an older man to live with a teenage girl, and he had to make Kyouko see that. Even if his wife insisted that Kyouko was old enough to make her own decisions.

"I understand." Kuon said with a sigh surprising the older couple. "I am not a good person. You are quite possibly the only one who can see through the act so easily." Taisho nodded impressed that he could at least admit that he was no good. "That being said Fuwa is much worse than I could ever be. If you'd like I could introduce you to Hikaru-san. He's a much better option and he would never put you up to ruining an evening Kyouko has worked hard to set up."

Koga jumped off the stage and Kuon took the phone from him. Handing it back to the Taisho he said, "You can tell Fuwa that he failed. She left the moment she heard his voice. Shouldn't that alone tell you exactly how she feels about him?"

"Hell shouldn't the fact that he wasn't invited tell you something about the way she feels?" Koga asked causing the Taisho to blush. He actually liked Koga for his honesty and protectiveness of Kyouko. "He knew that she would never want him here that's why he put you up to this."

"I will not apologize." Taisho said even as his wife pressed on his hand, a sign for him to say something. "That girl needs to see that she has options other than this no-good lying con artist."

"I agree," Koga said patting Kuon on the shoulder, "But she made her choice and there's nothing we can do about it."

"I don't want an apology, but you might consider how Mogami-san feels." Kuon said noting several people who seemed too preoccupied with looking like they weren't listening. "I should go now."

"Hmph." The Taisho sneered as Kuon bowed and exited with Kana.

"You really should consider how this made her feel. She left immediately once she heard his voice." Were Koga's parting words to the Darumaya couple.

Kyouko woke up in the elevator tucked safely against Kuon's chest. She smiled inhaling his scent and snuggling closer.

"I'm sorry Kuon, I fell asleep before you even made it to the car. I didn't even get to ask what happened." She said dreamily. Everything was fine if he was here with her and not in the president's office doing damage control.

"Nothing happened. That guy wasn't even there, just his phone with a recording to wish you a happy birthday." Kuon said smoothly as the elevator stopped on their floor. "As for you falling asleep, well, that was probably for the best because I plan on keeping you up all night."

She blushed hiding her face in his chest and squeaking out what sound like, "pervert!"

A/N: I don't know why I keep writing chapters after I get vaccinated. I don't man I have a weird brain. Anyway hope you liked it. I feel like it's rushed in places but no matter how many times I tried to read over it and make it more smooth it ended up the same. I even tried to take out the part about Fuwa several times but he demanded to be an asshole somewhere in the chapter.