"I assure you that I wasn't drunk." Kyoko said in reply to the reporter's questions.

She was calm and unshaken as she stood before them. Behind her Yashiro and Lory proudly stood in silent support. Maria was in a chair behind her the picture of stoic confidence but inside she was fuming. She would have to call Ren and tell him to convince Kyoko to get revenge on Fuwa. Later she would shove pins in the Fuwa voodoo doll she had in her room.

"No, I had not taken any other illegal substances. I have never taken any illegal substances." Kyoko answered another question.

It was easy to remain unshaken when their accusations were all lies. No, she had not been out drinking. She didn't know why the three boys would say that she had been. No, she didn't have, nor had she ever had romantic feelings for Koga.

"Are the rumors that the sweater you are wearing belongs to Tsuruga Ren true?" A voice from the crowd questioned and Kyoko felt her heart jump painfully into her throat. Wide golden eyes looked into the sea of reporters trying to find the one who had asked the question.

"No," She answered too late.

Though her voice was confident she knew that they must have seen the fear flash through her eyes and from that they had gleaned the truth. But then it wasn't exactly the truth, was it? The sweater was Kuon's and would not suit Tsuruga Ren. It was the wrong color for Ren. It was not the proper posh style for Tsuruga Ren. Though it had cost Kyoko more than she was accustomed to spending on clothes, it had not been nearly as expensive a sweater as Tsuruga Ren was accustomed to wearing. She had bought it for Kuon though and he had worn it every chance he could for three months before gifting it back to her. It smelled like Kuon after a shower not like Ren's expensive cologne.

"The sweater is mine. Truly it is simply an oversized sweater that I wear when I want to be comfortable." Kyoko said but she knew they didn't believe her.

"There is a picture of Tsuruga-san wearing a similar sweater."

"I assure you they are different sweaters." Kyoko said but there was a slight quiver in her voice she hoped they couldn't hear.

"So, you deny the accusation that you cheated on Fuwa-san with Tsuruga-san?"

"Of course, I deny it." Kyoko said sounding properly scandalized.

"Then could you explain…"

The reporter never finished his question as Lory stood up and cleared his throat. The president let out a dramatic wail and Kyoko used all her acting skills to keep her irritation from showing on her face.

"Mogami-kun I must confess to you that I have received the most terrible news." Lory gave another woeful wail like a ghost begging for an exorcist to expel him. Face upturned to the ceiling he stepped in front of her. His legs trembled and his right hand clutched his heart as his left came up to rest on his forehead. The cameras flashed as the reporters listened raptly for the new gossip the eccentric president was about to feed them.

"What is he doing?" She hissed to Yashiro who looked as perplexed as she felt.

"Kana-san please come forward and tell us all what you confessed to me." Lory said in his most scandalized voice.

"Don't." Kyoko mouthed as Kana stepped forward.

"I am eternally sorry Kyoko-chan for betraying your trust." Kana sobbed her cheeks wet with tears. Cameras flashed and the reporters frantically asked questions. "I confess that I have committed a betraaaaaall." Kana shrieked as Kyoko seized her arm and dragged her back out the door.

"Mogami-kun!" Lory shouted chasing after them.

Yashiro stood up blocking the reporters from chasing after them. "Forgive us. I will try to retrieve them. Until then please take your seats and wait quietly." He said before vanishing after the three of them.

The reporters did not take their seats and wait quietly. They were hurriedly texting their editors each one hoping to be the first to get the gossip out. It didn't matter that Kana hadn't been allowed to finish her declaration, they all knew exactly what they would write. The story wouldn't matter much anyway. Everyone knew that people only remembered the headline. Some people only read the headline.

Kyoko shoved Kana into the Love Me room and glared at the older woman.

"What were you thinking!" Kyoko asked though she knew it had been the president's idea. Still, Kana had agreed to do it and had dramatically swooped in to confess to something that hadn't happened.

"I was thinking that I could solve all of our problems." Kana replied in an affectionate yet superior tone.

"How? By causing yet another scandal?" Kyoko asked mentally tallying how many scandals and rumors Kana had started.

"Yes. This scandal frees both you and Tsuruga-san from Fuwa and me. You can play the jilted ex for the next year then be with Tsuruga-san when you turn twenty." Kana said obviously feeling proud of herself.

"Oh, is that what's going to happen? Fuwa Sho will not admit to any wrongdoing Kana-san. He isn't Ren. He won't hear you out and play along with your game." Kyoko said feeling an old bitterness well up inside.

She had always wanted to confront Kana for her ambush on Ren. Before she had gotten to know Kana, Kyoko and thought the older woman was deceitful and that she didn't deserve her girlfriend. Kyoko had been the one once forced to watch her love kissing another. It had been wrong of Kana to use Ren to make her lover jealous and even more wrong still that she had not asked Ren for permission.

"Please Kyoko-chan that boy will love the idea that he stole me from Tsuruga-san." Kana said with a wave of her hand.

"You are so much like him it almost makes me sick to look at you."

"What?" Kana asked surprised by the disgust in Kyoko's voice.

"You'll use anybody to your advantage. You help spread rumors and you scheme with people. It doesn't matter who you hurt in the end so long as you get what you want." Kyoko said. It felt good to finally be able to voice how she felt about that particular scandal. "You kissed Ren and started this whole mess so that your girlfriend would be jealous. I understand that you were desperate to conceal your relationship from the public and I don't think it's fair that you can't come out and be accepted by everyone. I do however think that it was incredibly wrong of you to take advantage of Ren's kindness. It was also extremely toxic of you to do that to your girlfriend."

Kana nodded feeling bad all over again for having inadvertently hurt Kyoko. She was sure that when the scandal broke Kyoko had cried thinking that Ren had chosen an older woman. It had not been her intention to hurt anyone.

"I'm sorry Kyoko-chan. As you said I was desperate, and I didn't think of what the consequences might be for Tsuruga-san. Had I known you existed I would have gone about it in a different way. I would have spoken with both of you and explained myself beforehand." Kana said apologetically.

"You should have asked permission regardless. Ren is a human being with a right to his personal space and modesty. You should have asked before exposing him to such a public display of affection and scandal."

"As Fuwa should ask your permission. Right, Kyoko-chan?" Kana asked and it irked her how Kyoko rolled her eyes and waved it off.

"Shotaro has always been annoying and impulsive like that. He's an idiot."

"An idiot who sexually assaults you in front of everybody any chance he gets because he knows that no matter what you'll forgive him. You go on and on about how you hate him. The two of you are sworn enemies. You want revenge on him. The truth is though that you love him, and you don't want to let go of your volatile relationship. You like fighting with him. You don't want to lose him, so you put up with his selfishness and even at times encourage him to take more." Kana spat knowing that this wasn't the first time Kyoko had been told the truth of her relationship with Shotaro. "He's going to hurt you one day Kyoko. If you continue to explain away his behavior, he will continue to take. He will go too far one day. In my opinion he already has. How much more are you willing to let him take from you Kyoko? What are you willing to do in order to keep him in your life?"

"I'm not going to do anything with him." Kyoko spat back disgusted by the accusations in Kana's voice. "I told you all what will happen. He'll continue to harass me until he grows bored and leaves. The more we fight back the more fun it is for him and the longer it will take for him to tire of this game. You and everyone plotting against him are the reason he keeps acting out."

"And then he'll come back again a few months later, right?" Kana asked. "Is this the little game the two of you have played your entire life?"

"No, this is a new game of his. In the past he never would have been caught dead calling me his girlfriend. Sometimes when we were in school he would deny even knowing me. Despite the fact that everyone knew I lived with his family." Kyoko said her face contorting with annoyance at the memory.

"Ah." Kana said as though she just realized something. "You like having his attention on you."

"No, I don't." Kyoko said genuinely sickened by the thought of wanting Shotaro's attention. "I would like nothing more than for him to disappear from our lives. He could just be background noise at the supermarket."

"You do." Kana said sympathetically. "You like rubbing it in his face that he can't have you. I noticed lately that you wear Tsuruga-san's cologne, and you almost always have on some accessory that labels you as his. An infinity sign bracelet and lotus flower earrings that he gave you to name a few. Things that I'm sure Fuwa has noticed and is hurt by. He hurt you deeply and now you're reveling in the knowledge that you have the power to hurt him in the same way."

"Kana-san, I've always worn things that Ren gives me, and I can't hurt Shotaro in the same way he hurt me. He doesn't love me like I loved him." Kyoko said and Kana raised a perfectly arched brow at her. "I can never break him the way that he broke me."

"But you can sure have fun trying, can't you? Unless we put an end to the fake relationship. If we do that then you can't giggle in front of him as you text Ren. You won't be able to sit in the car and watch Koga or the Ishibashi brothers belittle Fuwa anymore. Kijima won't have any more reasons to punch Shotaro if the two of you are separated." Kana said thinking of all the bad things she had posted about Shotaro online.

"I never asked anyone to do anything to him. As I recall I told everyone to leave him alone." Kyoko argued.

There was a knock on the door and the handle giggled. "Mogami-kun, Kusanoki-san could I speak with you?" Lory asked through the door.

"You didn't have to ask us to do anything." Kana said taking a step towards the door. "We're your friends. Just as you would do anything to help us, we all do things to try and help you. But I won't help you torture Fuwa or rub your relationship with Ren in his face."

"That's not what I'm doing." Kyoko said but she didn't know if that was completely true. Maybe she did like it a little that she was the one with a lover while Shotaro was begging for her attention. It was his own fault though. If he'd leave her alone then they could all have peace.

Kana opened the door and Lory tumbled in catching himself just before he hit the floor ear first. He righted himself and brushed off his white cloak.

"Ahem, Mogami-kun you should not have left the press conference so quickly." He said ready to scold her. There had to be some way to convince her that Kana's confession was the best course of action. None of Shotaro's real partners had been willing to admit to sleeping with him.

She raised a brow at him, and her cool expression reminded him of Kuon. "And you should not be spreading lies."

"It isn't a lie. That boy has been seeing other women. He's been sneaky about it, but we have caught him in some compromising situations. He is nothing but trouble and I regret allowing you to fake date him." Lory said holding his composure.

"I already told you that I will not drag his name through the mud. Let him dig his own hole. The paparazzi will catch him doing something else eventually. Next time he calls me in the middle of the night I'll simply send someone to get him. If he refuses to get into the car, then it'll be his fault when he freezes to death." Kyoko said though everyone knew she wouldn't forgive himself if something did end up happening to him.

"Mogami-kun…"

"It's too late now." Yashiro interrupted. He held his phone up to show everyone the comments of an article.

Do you think it's true?

Why would she lie about it?

It can't be true though.

Poor Kyoko-chan.

Poor Kyoko-chan? Fuck her! Poor Tsuruga-san!

Kyoko glared at Kana who was sheepishly avoiding the phone screen. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that as soon as Kana was alone, she would be on the fansites fighting with Shotaro's fans.

"You're only going to make it worse Kana-san. Stop fighting with fans online and adding fuel to the rumor mill." Yashiro said shaking his head. "What's done is done and everyone will speculate even more now."

Kyoko sighed reading a comment from the user MusicGod.

Of course, Fuwa-san would hook up with Kana. She's got that sexy body and Kyoko is as flat as a board.

"I have work to get to." She said wondering why it still hurt after all these years. She resisted the urge to look at her body and pinpoint all the flaws.

Just look at that dumb expression on Kyoko's face. What an airhead.

Who does she think she is dragging Kana-san away like that?

Who did she think she was dating Sho-chan?

As if he would ever want her.

She looks like a bowl of limp soggy noodles. I wouldn't even feed her to my dog.

Yashiro turned his phone away from her and read the comments.

"You're right we need to go." Yashiro threw a glare at Lory who flinched sheepishly.

It had to be done but the least he could have done was warn them. Had Yashiro known he would have been able to talk with Kyoko beforehand and maybe convince her that it was the only way. At least, this way when she abruptly left to visit Kuu it wouldn't seem like it was out of nowhere. They would explain to the media that she needed time to heal. The plan was for her to finish work ahead of schedule which she was on track to do and then go to the Hizuri family home.

"Mogami-kun, I apologize for not giving you a heads up, but it had to be done. Fuwa-san has been allowed to become a monster." Lory said. At first, he thought it would be fun to see Kuon squirm to have Kyoko fake dating Fuwa, but it quickly lost its amusement. Fuwa was too brash and selfish.

"I understand what you were trying to do but Shotaro will deny it. You just made his stupid little game more fun for him. You have no proof of him being with Kana and his fans will defend him to the death. Most likely mine." Kyoko said. Her phone buzzed and she lifted it up to see the caller. It was Shotaro.

"Brava Kyoko. I didn't think you had it in you to spread such salacious lies." His grating voice said. "Too bad for you my fans all think this is your fault for being such an ugly bore."

"What do you want Fuwa?"

"That is not the way to speak to your boyfriend." Shotaro said and she could hear the smirk in his voice. She rolled her eyes. "I still have pictures of you and Tsuruga you know. Remind your president of that. Don't forget to remind him your age as well." He tsked his tongue. "How old were you when you met him? Fifteen? I could call the paparazzi now. Tsuruga would have a much worse label than cheater. He'd be in a lot of trouble. I bet I could convince people that you only got that role in Dark Moon because the two of you were already hooking up."

Her jaw clenched but she swallowed the retort on the tip of her tongue. There was no way she would let him ruin Kuon.

"What do you want Shotaro?" She asked glaring down at the floor.

"A date tonight." He said and she felt that all she could do was agree.

"Fine." She said feeling a lump in her throat. They had played right into his hands. He had showed them just how easily he could sway the media.

"And I don't want four eyes or those stupid brothers there." He said enjoying his game. "I'm looking at a picture of Tsuruga right now. You know he really is that tall. I always believed you about the lifts in his shoes. His legs are just that long. You look so small next to him. Like a child."

"Ok, Yashiro-san won't be there." She said and Yashiro narrowed his eyes.

"Or the brothers." He reiterated.

"They won't be there either." she said rolling her eyes as Yashiro crossed his arms. "Is that all?"

"Mogami-kun, what are you agreeing to exactly?" Lory asked reaching for the phone. She held up a hand indicating that he should back off.

"We will have dinner at your apartment. We'll put these cheating rumors to rest, and I might even clear up your little drinking scandal if you behave yourself." Shotaro said pleased with himself.

"Fine." She said and Shotaro narrowed his eyes. That was suspiciously easy.

"I mean it Kyoko. I want an actual date. The food better taste good and not be poisoned and I don't want to spend the night talking about that lousy pretty boy actor."

"Fine." She said knowing exactly what he wanted. There was no point in fighting him anymore. Once he got what he wanted he would leave, and she could breathe again knowing Kuon would be safe. "Is that all? Are you happy now that you're getting your way?"

"Yes, I am very happy. See you tonight lover." He said and she shuddered feeling bile rising in her throat.

"What did you just agree to?" Yashiro asked the second she ended the call.

"A date."

"Mogami-kun!" Lory protested.

"Kyoko-chan, that is the opposite of what you should do." Kana said.

"Kyoko-chan, we should announce a breakup and be done with him." Yashiro said.

"Shotaro told me to remind you that I am nineteen and he has pictures of Ren and I in a compromising situation. He has pictures of us actually kissing. Do you have a picture of him kissing Kana-san or anyone else?" She asked.

Lory hung his head. He had pictures of Shotaro meeting up with women and proof of them disappearing together but none of him kissing them.

"It wouldn't really matter if we did." Yashiro said. "Fuwa-san doesn't have a squeaky-clean reputation to uphold. He wouldn't care if we had a thousand pictures, would he?"

"That's why I told you guys to leave him alone. If we had simply played along, he would have grown bored by now. I've always bored him, and he's always run off to some other girl with a nicer body and prettier face." Kyoko said irritated with them.

"You were playing along though, and he wasn't getting bored." Kana pointed out. "To me it looked like he was becoming bolder and more demanding."

"He was escalating like a child throwing a tantrum, but he would have stopped eventually."

"Eventually." Kana mocked. "After he had his fill of harassing you."

Kyoko shook her head. Kana wasn't going to let it go. "I have to go to work. I understand that your hearts were in the right place, but could you please try to stay out of this. I've known him my whole life. I know how this will play out." She said before bowing to them and taking her leave.

"Where is this date you're going on without me?" Yashiro asked once they were in the car.

"At my apartment."

"What?" Yashiro asked his knuckles turning white on the wheel.

"With any luck after tonight he'll be sick of me." Kyoko said with a passive shrug. Yashiro hated it when her and Ren did that. It made it so hard to know what they were planning.

"What are you going to do?"

Kyoko met his eyes in the mirror with determination saying, "I'm going to give him what he wants."

A/N: XD