AN: Chapter is much shorter than the usual but I thought I would end it at the place I did rather than continuing. Next chapter will include the telling of the job and Shotaro.

Act 91 – Friendships and Secrets

Kyoko was extremely excited to be going to eat dinner at Ren's apartment. She missed spending time with him and having heard that both she and Kuon were single children had given her some further connection to him. It wouldn't matter though if she had a sibling or not, they would have probably left her alone as well. Her family was like that. Ren though, Kuon, he didn't talk a lot about his own parents.

She had decided to bring some ingredients with her this time. Maybe they weren't the priciest of items but they should do the job in making something for the two of them to eat and it would give her peace of mind that Ren was actually eating and had leftovers. As she knocked on the door of the building, she heard the noise of him buzzing her up.

People kept looking at her. She knew why. She didn't have elegant or flashy clothes, she wasn't wearing makeup, her hair wasn't styled in an interesting and glamorous way. How could someone so…poor be entering such a luxury apartment? Kyoko sighed feeling self-conscious but as she took the elevator to the penthouse and saw Ren standing there waiting for her in loose casual pants and a tee, she felt a longing in her chest.

"Good evening," she said with a bow as she stepped out of the elevator and lifted the bag that she was holding. "I brought food."

"Great. I was trying to decide where you might want to go and eat," he said before leading them to his door and opened it for them. Kyoko shifted nervously. Had he wanted to go out to eat at a restaurant? She didn't have the type of clothes that might be suitable for going out anywhere where he would usually go with a woman. Kyoko blushed deeply as she thought of herself that way. No. She was his childhood friend, she wouldn't be seen by him as anything other than that.

As she came into the apartment, Kyoko saw a script on the table as well as some DVDs. She tilted her head to the side as she passed it. She was interested in what work assignments he got and what his preparation was to play the character. Was this some type of higher level of acting preparation? She stopped. Maybe she should model what she did in the future on what she saw happening here?

"Don't mind that," Ren said as he turned to her with a smile. "It's just the latest drama that I've been asked to work on. It's a remake of Tsuki ga Mori." Kyoko blinked up at him, she hadn't heard of that drama, it wasn't something that Shotaro's parents had played for her. "I've been asked to play the main role of Katsuki," Ren continued to smile and Kyoko nodded.

"It must be really high profile," she laughed and Ren approached her. He put a hand to the table right next to where the book was.

"High profile is right. It's apparently going to be the hottest drama of the year, once more and more parts are decided upon the news and media attention is going to be…scary," he laughed and Kyoko tilted her head as she continued to stare at the script which he had just closed. Was this what an offer looked like when you were a professional actor, being given a script to read through and then to say yes or no to it rather than audition. There was still a lot that she didn't know.

Kyoko stopped as she looked at the pictures on the DVD copy. "Is this the man that you'll be portraying?" she asked as she showed him a picture of the main couple and saw the way that his face paled and he turned away.

"Can we just start cooking together or talk about something else?" he asked and Kyoko nodded slowly. She reached down to put the video down but her finger went over the name Shuuhei Hozu and then in brackets, Kuu HIzuri. She froze as she looked at it.

"Is Hizuri Kuu your -" Kyoko asked and Ren turned to her awkwardly.

"He's my father," Ren said as he gestured to the script. "I'd prefer not to go into any further talk about him. I idolized him as a kid, I idolize him now but he…he wouldn't care if I was alive or dead. All that he cares about is that I'm not making problems for him and his polished reputation."

Kyoko stared at him confused but then nodded. It was hard to have a parent who didn't care about you at all. She put the videos down. Her curiosity about what kind of a person Kuu HIzuri was could wait until later. Hopefully he wasn't some foul mouthed actor who was abusive behind the scenes. "Okay," Kyoko nodded not wanting to tell Ren that he was loved because she really didn't know that much about his family situation. "How about we get started on dinner."

"That sounds great," Ren nodded not knowing that soon he would be working on this emotionally heavy drama with the girl he had developed feelings for. He looked up and at his reflection in the window. He could see the disapproval and hatred on his dad's face at having such a brat be related to him. He had once been a son that his father could love but not anymore. He would never be able to do enough to have his father be proud of him.

…

…..

Kyoko grinned as she and Maria found her, each of them had given Kanae gifts. Maria's gift had been something called the hand of glory. It was a severed left hand of the dead because whoever receives it will have good luck and whoever holds it will gain its demonic power of evil. Maria had apparently picked it up from a reliable source and this made it have a more creepy feel to it.

Kyoko's gift was handmade by Kyoko, of course. This was a curse doll which was a small imitation of the real thing, this time being Kyoko herself wearing her Love Me uniform. Whoever was to own this phone charm would be protected from disaster and would hold the power of protection.

After the two girls had both given their gifts to Kanae, who had stood there staring at each of them with a little bit of shock on her face, Maria and Kyoko both launched confetti into the air whilst calling out, "Moko-san, congratulations on your comeback and debut as an actress."

Kyoko stood there in front of Kanae hoping to see some kind of reaction but Kanae seemed to be speechless over the gifts. Kyoko didn't notice that the girl seemed to be a bit worried in holding them. She had made and given a present to Moko and that type of feeling brought them the closeness that Kyoko had always desired of a female friend.

…

…

Kyoko froze as she faced Kanae whilst they were in the acting class at the agency. Moko had a dark energy around her and Kyoko felt a little threatened by her. Moko's voice was low and cold, "I've told you all my secrets," she told her and Kyoko flinched. "Are you still planning to keep your secret hidden from me?" Kyoko flinched not knowing how to respond to that. Moko's life revolved around acting and so she had the same kind of feeling as Ren but none of the childhood memories grounding her. "Isn't that unfair?" Moko told her and Kyoko kept flinching.

"But…but Moko-san," Kyoko said as she took a step away from her, "If you knew my secret you'll definitely hate me."

Kanae put a hand on her hip with a heavy frown, "You don't know that."

"I know," Kyoko nodded convinced that because Kanae had dedicated her life to the acting world that she would not tolerate such a self-centered reason for Kyoko immersing herself in the world that Kanae loved. She didn't want to insult her but Kanae seemed insulted not to know the secret.

"So you won't say it no matter what?" Kanae asked almost disgusted. She tore off the charm on her phone and tossed it on the ground, this was the same one that Kyoko had given her to celebrate her having gotten a job. "Then our friendship ends here," she announced and Kyoko screamed. She didn't want for that to be the response. "Good bye" Kanae said as she turned and walked away with a frustrated expression on her face.

Kyoko reached out her hand for Kanae. This was taking a risk that Moko was going to really hate her but Kyoko didn't want to lose her friendship either. As hard as it was to do, Kyoko would have to tell her the whole truth about her past and her insecurities about her latest job offer. Well, she couldn't tell Moko about Kuon's father but the rest of it she could.

End of Act 91

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewer of Act 90

Kaname671