Ren was sat in his apartment. Today had been terrible. He'd been NG'd twice, had to deal with Yashiro giving him strange looks and Kotonami had shouted at him. In front of people. He liked his manager but he was really a pain in the arse. He wasn't entirely sure about Kotonami.
He swirled the scotch in his glass round. He was thinking about Kyoko and how she had run from him. He honestly had no idea about what he was supposed to have done.
Faintly he registered that his phone was ringing. If it was important they'd leave a message. It stopped and he took a sip of his scotch. He savoured the taste. It burnt a little but he enjoyed the warmth that spread through his body. It helped take a little of the tension away.

His phone was ringing again.
~if my phone keeps ringing I'm going to need a refresh... but it could be Kyoko~
~Don't be stupid. She doesn't want to talk to us. She ran from us~

He walked over to refill his glass and glanced at the caller ID. The little hope he had died when he was it was the President.
He took a deep breathe and answered the phone, but before he could even get a greeting out, the President was yelling at him about picking up and that Kyoko was in hospital.
He didn't remember leaving his apartment or getting into his car. He barely remembered the drive.
(The only reason he did remember is he broke just about every traffic law to get there, and even in his state Ren is a good enough driver to still pay attention to the road. )

He burst through the doors of the hospital and speed to the waiting room. There he found Sebastian, Lory, Kanae and the Okami and Taisho of the Darumaya where Kyoko lived. Each one looked pale and worried. Kanae was pacing up and down. Ren stopped her.
"What happened?"
Kanae explained what she knew. That Kyoko had come to her house for a sleepover but when she got there she was pale and looked terrible. She had collapsed at her front door. She was burning up. She phoned an ambulance and then;
"here I am. The hospital phoned the President as he's down as emergency contact. He phoned the Okami and Taisho. They rushed her off to ER and apparently she regained consciousness briefly. They asked her what was wrong and she said 'sick' and 'stitch'. The doctors put this all together with her temperature and everything and concluded that she has appendicits."
Ren slumped in relief. Not that he was glad that it was appendicitis, but it was easily treatable. She may be suffering now, but it would be over soon.

The doctor came through the doors and all eyes turned to him.
"Are you all here for Mogami-san?"
They all nodded.
"Alright. Mogami-san is a very lucky girl. It's uncommon for appendicitis to strike this quickly but not unheard of. If she hadn't been brought in when she was, her appendix could have burst. She must have been in a lot of pain throughout the day."
He took a breath so they could all take this in. He flicked through some paperwork in his hands.
"We are currently giving her antibiotics in case any of the toxins from her appendix got into her blood stream. She's also on painkillers. We are taking her straight to the OR to have her appendix removed as quick as possible. We don't want to risk further complications which is why we are working so fast. We'll have to keep her in for a few days to monitor her condition and let her rest after the surgery. She'll be fine and should make a full recovery."

A sigh of relief went round the room like a breath of fresh air. The tension level seemed to drop and no one looked as worried anymore.
"Can we see her?" asked Ren.
"Well you can but the painkillers she's on are pretty strong so it's unlikely she's awake. If she is she won't be very lucid."

Ren didn't care. He needed to see Kyoko with his own eyes. The doctor nodded and indicated that Ren should follow him. When they got to her room the doctor stopped him.
"Remember. She might not be awake"
Ren didnt say anything. He just brushed past the doctor into Kyokos room.

She was so very pale, her face tight with pain. As the doctor predicted she was also asleep.
An IV in her arm was pumping the medication into her. A monitor connected to a lot of wires showed her vitals and beeped along reassuringly with Kyokos steady heartbeat. Ren crossed to her and set himself down in the chair next to her bed. He smoothed a lock of hair away from her face and took her hand.

"Kyoko-chan. You need to get better quickly because it distresses me to see you like this. There is nothing I can do to help you"
Ren's voice cracked slightly, the only indication of the true emotion behind his words.

"We can bring her food, clothes, scripts. Things for her to do while she's in here. We can come see her when she's better to keep her company. We can be there for her when she gets out."

Ren hadn't seen or heard Kanae come into the room. Kanae gently pressed her hand to Kyokos forehead.
"Well her fever seems to have gone down a little. I can't cook an egg on her forehead anymore."
Kanae looked thoughtful for a moment while watching Ren out of the corner of her eye.
"Tsuruga-san. You love her right?"

Ren nodded, not even bothering to deny it.

"We can help her by being there for her, no matter what. She isn't a very demaning person. She just needs us to keep being us. Though maybe some of us could be a little more."

Ren thought about this. He could see what Kanae meant. Kyoko never asked for anything without offering something in return. She went out of her way to help people. It usually took some form of guilt trip or obscure logic to get her to accept something as simple as a ride home.
Okay, so she was a little dense, but it was cute. It was one of the things they all liked about her.

Kanae was stroking Kyokos other hand.
"If you ever repeat to anyone what I'm about to say, I will deny it. She's my best friend. In some ways sometimes more like a sister. One I actually like. Ever since that advert audition she's made me want to be better, to do better. Thanks to her I don't always avoid my family either now. She's shown me that it's okay to love them even if they do drive me crazy. I've done a lot and overcome a lot. Most of it is thanks to Kyoko. She's a wonderful person and I will always treasure the day she decided we were friends and then best friends. Apart from the calories she makes me eat, I like hanging out with her. I am very lucky she chose me. I will protect and I will do everything I can to deserve the title of her best friend. If you hurt her... I will hunt you down."

Ren was shocked. This was the most the woman had every said to him. Without shouting at him or giving him a death glare. Plus it was very honest.

" I won't ever tell anyone Kotonami-san. I promise. I can also promise you I would never intentionally harm her. I will and do cherish her. I want to love her openly and treat her as she deserves to be treated, but I know she still can't love. I'm okay with that. I will wait for Kyoko for however long it takes."

They looked at each other and a flash of understanding shot between them. Kyoko was precious to both of them.
A nurse came in.
"Excuse me. I have to get Mogami-san ready for her operation."

Ren and Kanae both said goodbye to Kyoko and thanked the nurse. As the door clicked shut behind them the nurse was checking all of the lines and vitals of Kyoko before she was moved. She looked up to place a thermometer strip on Kyokos head and saw that Kyoko was awake.
"Ah Mogami-san. I am Nurse Ito. I am prepping you for surgery."

The nurse looked at Kyoko and saw that the girl had a very worried look on her face.
"Calm Mogami-san. It's a very simple and routine procedure. It won't even take an hour."
"Ah thank you. It's strange. I'm not at all worried about the surgery. it means this," she indicated herself and the hospital room "cant happen again."

Nurse Ito was amazed by Kyokos positivity.

"So what are you worried about then?"

Kyoko looked down at the blankets, the top of her ears red. She started fidgeting with the edge of the blanket.
"I'm worried about how angry those two are going to be when they find out I was awake and heard everything they just said."