Act 89 – Sisters and Secrets

Kyoko had her hands together and a wide smile on her face as she sat at the table with Moko's sister the following morning. The first thing that she had done that morning was to phone Ren. She had no idea still why she had done it but hearing his voice had given her the happiness which she had desired. Soon she would be meeting with him once again and that always excited her, The meal which she had just eaten was very much enjoyed. It was a small meal but it was the feeling of being with people who loved one another that made even a small meal so warm and delicious to her.

"Thank you very much for the meal," she grinned happily.

Kanae's sister laughed weakly as she watched the kids around her hungrily eating. Kyoko knew how hard it would have been to take care of all these people. It was something she had never thought about but it must be somewhat nice to belong to a larger family.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Kanae's sister replied, "but sorry for such a simple breakfast meal."

Kyoko shook her head, she didn't want to seem ungrateful especially since they had opened their house to her. Maybe a less respectful person would demand more food but such disrespect was completely out of Kyoko's nature. "Not at all," she argued, "Rice with ajinori, scrambled egg, and miso it's a perfect Japanese breakfast. You are too kind."

Kanae's sister laughed in appreciation and again Kyoko got that warm feeling of family and home that was foreign to her. She wasn't going to say that Sho's family's ryokan was her home, yes she had grown up there but it wasn't somewhere that she would ever own. She laughed weakly, that would be too arrogant to claim that inn was her home.

"I must apologize too," Kyoko said with a weak laugh. "I intended to go home last night but you were kind enough to let me stay for the night."

"No," Kanae's sister said as she shook her head, "It's fine with us. Recently the security around the neighborhood is lacking. I would be worried if I let a young girl like you walk home alone."

Kyoko saw the concern in Kanae's sister's eyes and laughed weakly. The Okami-san had said something very similar to her and it just made Kyoko think about how Kanae was struggling so much that she had to sell her services to the men she had seen previously. In fact, Kanae had told her that they hired her as an actress to work for them but Kyoko had the feeling that it could have easily crossed the line if the actress were someone other than Moko. Besides, the fact that she had been convinced to stay for the night meant that she had her first experience at a friend's house and that was an experience that she had wanted to have since she was a little kid. More than that she wanted to deepen her friendship with Moko and - and -

Kyoko felt numerous things hit her in the back as something rumbled and fell and she found Kanae's sister to rapidly be pulling things off of her and apologizing. There were landfalls in the house? What was more concerning were that these kids who loved to be thrown weren't even bothered by things falling on top of them.

"Aaah!" Kanae's sister screamed in a panic, "Oh no! I'm sorry, are you all right? Be careful local quakes occur easily in our area," she tried to explain. "We just keep on piling up our things which is a lot so it's become like this." Kyoko looked around. Yes, there wasn't any floor space and only in Moko's special private room did it seem easy to be lived in. This was nothing like the expensive apartment which she had paid for when Shotaro wanted to live in luxury but that place was always filled with loneliness and want. It would be better to live in a place that was cramped but there was that feeling of being wanted, that attachment.

Kyoko laughed as she shifted some items from herself, "It can't be helped," she smiled weakly, "Your family is big and you need a lot of things for life."

Kanae's sister kept laughing weakly as if feeling a little ashamed for everything but she wasn't the only one living here and the family staying together seemed to be more important to her. "It's okay if you say it honestly. It's because we're poor. We can't throw away things and of course we keep every thing we've already got. All of our family members are conservative because we're poor. To tell you the truth, the outside looks good only because Kanae used her money to fix it up. She's still paying the loan." Kanae's sister sighed and sat down again, "Actually it's fine with us but Kanae said she's embarrassed with our old ruined house."

Kyoko laughed weakly as she thought about the previous night when Kanae had shown her a photograph of what the house had looked like before the repairs had been made. Moko-chan wanted to be an actress who was capable of being called 'Japan's actress' and that meant that she needed her life to be admired and for people to admire her. It would have been a travesty if that picture that Kyoko had seen had been the house that Moko had had. That place truly was a dump and Kyoko hated to say that. She didn't want to insult anyone but she agreed why Moko had wanted to change it so badly. It was this kind of thing that made it so that Kanae would do unexpected things for money.

"She became worse after she entered junior high," her sister continued to explain before staring into space as if entering a heavier way of thinking, "She built a separate room. Since then until now, what did she do to get that much money. She didn't do something illegal right?" the sister turned to Kyoko a look of dread was now covering her face. "Did she sell drugs or people's organs. Is it because we're so poor. Is she living a life of crime."

Kyoko coughed, she didn't want for Kanae's sister to get the wrong opinion of her. Although Kanae was doing something strange she wasn't harvesting anyone's organs. "About that….I don't think you have to worry…"

Kanae's sister grabbed Kyoko's arm, a panicked and desperate look still across her face. "Do you know what Kanae is doing?" she asked and Kyoko gave a quiet yes, "What's up with her!?" the sister said as she looked around, Kyoko starting to see the care that came with a loving family that was much different from the one she grew up in. "Why did she tell an outsider when she didn't even tell us, her own family! So mean! She's a meanie! How dare she make her only big sister feel like this."

Kyoko looked at the woman in front of her. She didn't want to admit it but the words that Kanae's sister were saying about her being an outsider made her feel that she was unwanted. She knew that it was because sisters wanted to be close to one another and the way that Kanae's sister was feeling was only because of how much she cared about a person so private as Kanae but Kyoko wasn't just a stranger to her. Kyoko had wanted to be the person who Moko talked to the most and she didn't want to surrender that role.

Kanae's sister quickly turned to Kyoko almost pouncing on her, "What does Kanae do!?" she asked and Kyoko stiffened. Yes, she had some privileged Moko knowledge and this was a family member of hers but being a trusted and true friend meant that you kept the secrets from others. It was a secret and special bond that she and Moko were sharing and it made Kyoko excited. She could be trusted more than Kanae's own sister.

"I'm sorry," Kyoko apologized as she looked forward, feeling the comforting warmth of being someone's support. She wanted to treasure those memories. "That's something I cannot say."

Kyoko finally was able to feel the emotion she had wanted the most. She had the feeling of having a special existence in Moko's heart that was as important as her family to her. She was someone who could enjoy the closeness of a treasured friendship. Kyoko had always wanted to experience such a friendship but when she was in grade school she would be shunned and people wouldn't want to be her friend. Now she was being nurtured by her friend Kanae. It was the same type of feelings that she had when she knew that Corn would protect her despite not being a true fairy prince. She was chosen. Both of these people had chosen to keep their friendships special and precious and she would choose each in the same manner.

She truly didn't want to disappoint either of them because these feelings of friendship were important and they were things that Kyoko wanted to protect with her heart. She didn't want to sell either of her friends out. Their love and affection was more important to her than any money or cosmetics even if it only stopped at friendships. These secrets were important for her to keep for both of them. She would never let either one of them down.

Kyoko tried to feel these strong emotions but felt something else land on her. She froze and felt the item that had landed fly away from her. She blinked and looked up, laundry? Laundry was flying around? Curiously, she stood, going to look out of the back window.

Flying around as if a robot was Moko, she kept hurrying back and forth whilst doing the laundry and with her hair tied back and with her acting so much like a housewife, Kyoko couldn't help but to think that this was very different from the glamorous Moko that she knew. She opened her mouth a couple of times astonished before finally clearing her throat and speaking a little more loudly.

"Mo—Moko-san" she said and Kanae stopped, hearing her voice and looking towards her as if she didn't know that she was there. That made Kyoko feel a little bit more self-conscious. "Why are you washing clothes? Did you forget to have breakfast?"

Kanae turned to her and twitched as Kyoko continued to watch her. What had happened?

End of Act 89

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