AN: So, I kind of get what you guys were saying with response to new scenes vs. old scenes so I'm going to try to have a little more. It was around the Dark Moon arc when it was really going to change though.

Act 82 – Hidden Identities

Kyoko stared horrified at Kanae as she returned that same look, this was extremely strange and she was having difficulty grasping the concept of it.

"What's wrong, Katsumi?" the father asked as Kyoko's head more or less exploded. It was a different look, different name. "Do you know her?"

Who was Katsumi? What the hell was going on?

…..

…..

As Kyoko approached LME for her acting training the following morning, she was trying to reason everything out. Kanae had two fathers, one of which was a sparkling socialite and the other who was an old geezer. The life of company cars and elegant dresses fit Kanae's image more in Kyoko's head but it wasn't even that. Kanae had dressed in different ways and was even speaking differently with different names. Did she have multiple personalities or something? Well, Kyoko wouldn't argue with that?

As she walked along, she felt a hand on her shoulder and blinked. Was Kanae standing there? No, the person was taller than her. She turned back and saw Ren grinning at her but she also heard people talking about her. Why was he drawing attention to himself?

"Sorry," he laughed in a strange manner since he had always seemed so composed before. This didn't seem to line up with the idea of him that she had in her head. She raised a questioning eyebrow and he sighed. "You looked nervous about something, maybe we could talk?" he asked and Kyoko dropped down into a bow that was pretty late due to her shock.

"Tsuruga-san," she said before nervously shifting, was she covering up their friendship well enough? "It's okay. Good morning, you must have other things to worry about. Were you on your way to work too?" she asked and Ren gestured in the direction of LME.

"The president wanted to ask me something but I'm running early. If you'd like me to listen to your concerns," he offered and Kyoko watched him. She was about to shake her head and refuse before she started to think more carefully on the topic. Ren Tsuruga was also Kuon Hizuri. The two had different lives, different hair and eye colors, different names, she even believed that they would have different voices.

"If that's not an inconvenience," she said and Ren nodded, leading her away to a secluded area near the front entrance. He sat down at a bench and gestured for her to do the same. "Tsuruga-san, when you are the other you, do you do things differently?"

Ren sighed and bowed his head, he felt exhausted just thinking about that question. "I'm not sure what you're exactly asking but being Tsuruga Ren means that I have to Tsuruga Ren exclusively. I'm not supposed to use the other persona."

"But…are they different? Do you have different fathers?" Kyoko asked and Ren looked at her.

"No, just the one," he replied as he thought about how disappointed his dad was in him and how he had cast him off as his child. He had felt cut off from the Hizuri family because of a lack of love and that he would shame the family but that wasn't something he wanted for Kyoko to hear from him. He wanted to be seen as someone who wasn't the black sheep.

"Do you think that someone could have two fathers?" Kyoko asked and Ren nodded.

"If there's a divorce, quite possibly, these days it might even be possible to have three fathers, two stepfathers and a biological one," he said and Kyoko nodded slowly again. This wasn't making her any less confused. Ren turned to her, were those not the answers she was hoping to get or was the simple topic of homosexual relationships making her feel awkward.

Kyoko looked down, she didn't want to get into detail with what she had seen with Moko but it didn't seem to be similar to Ren's situation at all. He wasn't getting paid to be Ren Tsuruga except for acting jobs that he would probably be paid for as his other self as well. He wasn't going around with different names to different fathers, he had one father who it seemed didn't accept him.

"Do you think there's a lot of people who get paid to be someone else's child?" she asked and Ren sighed.

"Who knows, people pay for many things that you wouldn't expect of them," he explained. "I would never want to not honor my father by pretending to be someone else's son despite him probably preferring that. If I wasn't his son, he probably would have been happier."

Kyoko looked at him not sure how to respond to that and Ren heard a timer on his phone, he smiled to her apologetically.

"Anyway, I do apologize but I have to go to my appointment before I run the risk of not arriving early," he told her before closing his eyes. "I don't know the details of the problem that you're facing, Mogami-san," he said in a more gentleman manner. "However, if you are dealing with a relationship issue that is confusing you, you can always ask. You might not receive an answer but you can always go ahead and try."

Kyoko watched him and jumped up, bowing and saying her goodbyes. She felt a little nervous going up to Moko and asking her about that, it didn't seem like something that Moko wanted her to see but maybe it would stop all of Kyoko's questions and lead to a much deeper understanding.

…

…

Kyoko watched Kanae as they stood in class together. They had been doing exercises and currently were doing a breather between them and so Kyoko had time to approach Kanae about the questions she had but she didn't want Kanae to come to the accurate conclusion that Kyoko had stalked her. She didn't want to explain how terrible she was as a friend.

She should just do it though but be prepared for her not wanting to talk about it, otherwise it would make her feel like she was losing it. It felt strange and as hesitant as Kyoko was to ask about it, then not asking about it would also seem weird because she would seem to have been pushing something aside. It was important to show concern and interest with a friend. Maybe Kyoko could get away with just limiting the conversation to what happened in Daruma-ya.

Well, she had to go for it.

"Moko-chan, I was so shocked yesterday, what a coincidence," she laughed happily as she tried to present the image of an understanding and kind friend who one could approach. "Do you always talk like that in front of your father?"

Kyoko said with a smile but Kanae turned to her, shame and anger showing on her face as her eyes narrowed whilst looking in Kyoko's direction. "This, this is none of your business," Kanae said and Kyoko paled. Kanae's voice had been rough and judgmental and it cut her like heavy blades. Kyoko turned around and burst into loud and noisy tears at facing this rejection whilst Kanae didn't know what to do next.

Kyoko went away feeling extremely upset, she was an idiot and she should have just let it go. Of course she wasn't special enough to be told things that were important to other people. She had never been considered important. She should just get used to being alone.

Kyoko attempted to ignore the comments that two other girls were making, she knew that they were talking about her and Moko and it really wasn't any of their business but she didn't want to make this situation worse by elevating the tension. Kyoko bowed her head until she heard something interesting.

"Come to think of it, Kotonami-san, didn't she have a chance to act in a drama serial?" one of the girls asked.

"She also came for a lesson a few days ago, could it be that it's over?" her friend asked and Kyoko felt her back straighten. Could those two girls have figured out what was wrong with Moko before she did. No. That wasn't what mattered the most, what mattered most was helping Moko feel better and overcome her depressed emotions. If she could learn how to do that then maybe there was a chance for a brighter friendship.

"No idea," the first girl said. "I have no idea what role it is. I heard that the director wanted her to act in it believing that it would have many possibilities. They couldn't have completed the show so quickly, right?"

Kyoko looked back at Kanae who was sitting by herself as if dead to the world. There was a longing and a loneliness that Kyoko felt from her but Kanae had already told her off and she didn't want to make it worse by prying. Maybe it was best to give her some space.

Still, if this was a problem with her work then it would make sense. Kyoko wanted to give Kanae a shoulder to cry on and try to praise her acting ability and tell her that the right opportunity would come along. She wanted to find out if there was any way of saving the current job. She wanted to help but she didn't want to get yelled at again, if Kanae yelled at her then although Kyoko could take it, her precious friend would be hurting.

It seemed very clear to Kyoko that even if she did question Kanae then she definitely wouldn't be told anything. Despite the hand she had extended in friendship, she never managed to grip onto Kanae's, only a few fingers but they would wriggle out if she tried to close her hand. She wanted a better friendship, a purer friendship. Was that even possible with Kanae?

What would Ren say about this?

…..

…

Because he was so early, Ren was asked to sit outside the president's office. He sighed and closed his eyes as he waited. He wasn't too excited about the reason he was asked to come. The president had questions for him that he didn't want to answer and he was using the method of talking over tea to try to get Ren to open up. Ren opened his eyes to see there was an American magazine on the counter in front of him and someone had earmarked a page.

As he opened it, his eyes widened and he quickly scanned the article. Most times, he managed to ignore information about this particular actor, Hizuri Kuu, but when it was right in front of him it was much harder to do. Ren looked at one question in particular.

Q: Kuu, do you have any children?

A: No comment.

End of Act 82

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Act 81

Ashenvale, Kaname671