Act 79 – Good Friends Tell

As Kyoko and Maria giggled and had fun, neither of them had been expecting to feel a sudden gloom filling the energy coming from a body so lifeless, it would give a new definition to zombie. It was haunting and the air was becoming rather chill because of it . Kyoko and Maria shared a look before they both turned in the area of where the ghost had gone.

"Um…" Kyoko said quietly as she shifted nervously, "What was that just now?"

She and Maria turned so that they could watch Kanae slowly make her way throughout the agency in a very depressed fashion. She was without the joy and life that Kyoko had been expecting and maybe it would take more than a party to make her feel better. "Could that be Kotonami-san?" Kyoko asked as she continued to focus on her.

Maria paled, her voice quiet, "I thought it was a ghost," she commented and Kyoko frowned.

"What happened?" the sixteen-year old asked as she saw the way Kanae's shoulders were slumped, her chin down, her hair seeming to place weight upon her. "It's as if she lost her will to live."

"It doesn't seem like a person that wants to follow her dreams," Maria commented with a shake of her head and Kyoko sighed. It didn't seem to be but that was what was making this so odd because not once during their friendship had Moko acted in this manner.

Something had happened to Moko and this wasn't going to be easily solved by just a conversation and an understanding and the return of a very precious object to her. Even if she were to show Kanae her precious stone, she might get laughed at and even though a friendship was precious to her, Corn's magic, Kuon's magic was also highly precious. Kyoko was feeling very suspicious as she continued to study Kanae.

"Maybe," Maria whispered and Kyoko was brought out from her heavy thoughts, "something bad happened at work."

Kyoko's eyes widened and she laughed weakly. That wouldn't be the case. Not with Moko-san. She was a completely different person to her and so Kyoko could make plenty of mistakes but Kanae was close to perfect. "Wha—t? No way!? To Moko? No way. She's not me," Kyoko said and Maria tilted her head, still trying to think about what they had just seen.

"But, besides that is there any other reason?" Maria asked innocently and Kyoko looked away. She didn't want to think of Kanae experiencing work issues but she didn't know what Kanae could have gone through to be in the type of situation of which she seemed to be.

"If it was like that, why didn't she tell me?" Kyoko laughed through gritted teeth. She closed her eyes, wanting to be the one who could ease Kanae's worries.

"That…you need to ask the person herself," Maria advised.

"Moko-chan," Kyoko yelled out with a great deal of energy and her fists at her side. She had so much energy that it even knocked Maria off balance but at least it completely her objective and that was to get Kanae to turn around and look in her direction. The other girl looked stunned and she seemed to show none of the depression that she had been when she believed herself to be alone. Kyoko wondered whether it was the inner actress within her who must always be presentable.

Kanae's eyes widened, "What…why did you suddenly appear and shout!? Don't scare me like that."

Maria turned to a panting Kyoko who was staring Kanae down, "Onee-chan, did you hear? She said we suddenly appeared. She didn't even notice the Love Me uniform. It seems she was oblivious to everything around her," the small girl commented but Kyoko already knew this. There was something bothering Kanae and even though Kyoko had seen how Kanae truly was behind her act, Kanae was now acting as if nothing was happening and this was all beneath her.

Kanae immediately straightened her posture and made sure that she was holding her bag in what Kyoko could say was a glamorous manner. "What are you doing here? Working for Love Me Group? What did they tell you to do today?" Kanae asked and Kyoko suspected that she was trying to brush the subject off so that they wouldn't make any comments on what they had just witnessed from her. "Sorry, but I only came to the office because I had something to do. I have no time to help you."

Maria stared at Kanae wide-eyed as Kyoko grew more and more frustrated by her friends' behavior. She was so blatantly ignoring the situation and focusing on other, not so important things, instead.

"If I didn't see her in that state," Maria commented, "I would've been fooled, no wonder she's an actor."

Kyoko approached her friend feeling a strange blend of emotions but she didn't want to hold onto the angry emotion for longer than necessary. "Moko," she approached her and Kanae blinked confused. "You…" Kyoko said before deciding to be honest and come right out with it. "Is something bothering you?"

Kanae stared at her for a moment more before quickly turning away from Kyoko and walking away from them. "Absolutely not," she said as she started to walk away and Kyoko couldn't shake the idea that she was being ignored. She wanted to be good friends with Kanae but she wasn't reacting in the ways that Kyoko had always imagined friends to act but that was also something she liked about Kanae, she was unique.

"Why are you lying to me!?" Kyoko cried loudly, hoping to draw her friend's attention back to her. "You must be bothered about something to not realize anything around you," she said feeling a pain of rejection in her heart. "Why aren't you telling me?"

Kanae turned back with her own angry expression, "I told you! I'm not bothered by anything. How can I tell you if it doesn't exist!" she asked and Kyoko froze. She just knew that these were even more lies added onto the original lie.

Kyoko rushed forwards and approached her, "Liar," she stated, "You don't even tell me things when you're happy. Not fair," she pouted and Kanae stomped forwards doing her best to not turn around and look at her. There was a sense of Kyoko being closed off by her best friend and she was desperate to bridge that gap.

"What do you mean?" Kanae asked, "You're the one that tells me stuff about you."

Kyoko shook her head, trying to keep up with Kanae's steady pace. "So mean!" Kyoko commented with a little sorrow in her voice, "If we're friends, when we're happy shouldn't we share with each other?" she asked and Kanae continued to look forwards.

"I don't," she claimed.

Kyoko followed her with that same desperation on her face, her concern was building and she just wanted to be considered a good friend and do things that good friends would do. She wanted a chance to explore that type of friendship between two girls.

"If there is a problem, you should take care of it yourself, that's what I live by," Kanae explained in a sharp tone and Kyoko stopped following her. Her eyes widened as she realized that Moko-chan might never open up to her. That wasn't the type of friendship of which Kyoko had been wanting. Kanae continued to walk forwards until she realized that the two other girls weren't following her any longer and looked back curiously.

Kyoko saw her look at them questioningly before turning her attention away from them. Was she really not ready to confide in Kyoko? Did she truly not trust Kyoko even after all of this time? Kyoko stared at the ground feeling a little selfish for the actions she had made. Kanae turned back to look at her again but Kyoko didn't raise her head. She felt terrible as a friend.

"If that's the case," Kyoko replied, "I will be very sad. We're supposed to be friends," she said and Kanae stared at her nervously. Kyoko knew that she had a hard time opening up to people but she had hoped that she had been different. It appeared that in Moko-chan's eyes, Kyoko was no more special than anyone else and that alone was enough to devastate Kyoko. Kyoko continued to look down sadly. "It must be my fate. I'll never be important to anyone," she commented momentarily forgetting about Corn.

"That," Kanae tried to argue back before stopping, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply leaving a long pause in her speech. She shook her head, looking as if she wanted to maintain her distance. "Anyways," she began and Kyoko looked at her hopefully. "I don't have anything that I can tell you."

Kyoko felt a bitter sting against her heart as she heard those words and Kanae walked away without even looking at her. Had that just confirmed it? Had Kanae just confirmed that their friendship meant very little to her and that Kyoko truly wasn't important to her. That hurt her heart more than anything she had experienced in the past.

…

…

"You've been kind of pissed off today," Yashiro said with crossed arms as he looked to Ren who was having a hard time keeping his appearance. He could tell that something was wrong even though Ren seemed determined to keep it a secret. This would be fine if he would be professional about it but Ren knew he was letting others down. He just hadn't experienced jealousy such as this in the past.

"What it is," Ren said, approaching the situation cautiously, "I can't tell you."

"No," Yashiro shook his head. "You must tell me. In case it happens again and affects business. Ren, you have an image to keep up."

Ren shook his head. He had already told himself that he wasn't going to fall in love. He couldn't afford to have someone special as his girlfriend. That would be asking for too much. "That…" Ren said nervously, "I told you I'm fine," he said before pointing to his smile but Yashiro failed to believe him. "I'm the same as always, right? It's not good for others to be waiting, that's bad right?"

"I can't believe you," Yashiro stated with a shake of his head. "You have something on your mind that brings out a glare and the atmosphere with the last casting director was even worse. You can't promise to keep your true personality from showing," Yashiro scolded him and Ren tried hard not to break his smile. "As 'Ren's manager' I have the right to know the truth to avoid situations like this."

Ren sighed, he knew the truth but how could he explain that he was jealous of Fuwa and that he was afraid that instead of fighting for her own joy and happiness, Fuwa would want to drag her back into his trap. He was uneasy and angry and frustrated because of his dislike and most of all distrust of Sho Fuwa.

"Is it because of Kyoko?" Yashiro asked and Ren's smile dimmed for a moment. How could he even begin to explain such a complicated relationship? "What's going on?" he asked but Ren didn't want to explain it. Yashiro knew that Kyoko was his friend from his childhood already but he didn't know for sure about the way that Ren felt about her. "What kind of relationship do you guys have?"

End of Act 79

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Brennakai, Kaname671, musherukuro