"Shooting's finished. Finally."

Kyoko smiled, then took her time answering the text while the secretary pretended to ignore her. It was a good day to linger. It was a very good day indeed - even if all she was typing was congratulations.

It was okay - Ren responded within seconds. "Heels celebrating tonight. Egg burgers?"

She laughed at that. Which was probably too much happiness for the secretary to handle, because she said: "Kato-san will see you now."

Kyoko nodded her thanks, then sent Ren a quick thumbs up. If things went well, they'd have two things to celebrate tonight - possibly even three, if she was so lucky.

"Mogami-san," Kato said, standing up to bow to her. "How are things with you?"

"Very well," she said. The words came out of her mouth easy - shockingly easy. She was sure nobody had the right to be so happy.

"I trust that you managed to sort out your friend's… misunderstanding?"

That was one way of putting it.

"I'm very grateful for your help." She bowed again.

They made small talk for a while, as the secretary came in with the tea and served them. Another great luxury - she was sure he had more important clients to deal with at such a time. And yet, he seemed perfectly happy to ask her about her life, whether she was doing successfully on her own, whether the arrangements for her accessing the trust fund had gone well. It wasn't until they exhausted that topic that Kyoko said:

"Kato-san, I must confess, there is an ulterior motive to my visit."

"An ulterior motive?" He seemed amused. "I don't think anybody has put it quite this way before, Mogami-san."

She did blush this time. "Yes, well… you see, my job sometimes requires a lot of travel. Not that I would presume that a novice actress like myself would receive many offers, but there is an off-chance I might have to travel abroad in the near future." The amount of uncertainty in that sentence made her want to cringe. What would the screenwriters say? "I… in short, I thought it was best that I get a passport. And I will need a permission from my guardians or my father to do so."

Kato-san didn't respond immediately. He waited until she was finished talking, then, without changing his facial expression, took a long sip of tea. "May I ask," he said, setting the up down, "what made you think about the passport in the first place?"

She balked. She'd expected a simple nod and maybe making arrangements to liaise as quickly as possible. Never such an unusual question. "Well, as I said, my job…" she stammered, then stopped.

Kato-san waited for a beat or two, before saying, "Forgive my impertinence, Mogami-san, but up until this point you worked in the industry without the need of a passport or traveling overseas. And with your eighteenth birthday so close, it does seem a bit out of character. Of course, if you want to go ahead with this, we can help you, but it never seemed to be a matter of particular urgency to you."

No, it hadn't been. Kyoko wanted to kick herself for not thinking ahead of this.

"Do you… think it would be a great problem?" She hated how small her voice sounded. What happened to being a strong, confident woman?

Thankfully, Kato-san seemed sympathetic. "I'm sorry if this sounded judgmental, Mogami-san. It's just that the way your relationship with the Fuwas seems to be, it is possible they will dig their heels in just to spite you. My… interactions with Setsuie-san haven't been the most positive, in the past," he said, scratching his ear. Kyoko was suddenly reminded of Yashiro, how he would sometimes fidget to hide any strong feelings. She had a strange feeling that the two of them should meet sometime. "On the other hand, your mother's instructions regarding your father were very clear - unless you explicitly requested his name, we were not to contact him under any circumstance. The final choice is yours, of course - you may well want to take that step now. But I would be remiss if I didn't make sure everything was alright with you first."

Kyoko didn't know how to feel, in all honesty. Part of her wondered why this conversation was being had in the first place. She knew this wasn't a drama - it was unlikely her father was the king of a country, or a popular TV star, or anything like that. On the other hand, a daughter coming out of the woodwork was drama enough on its own.

The fairies urged caution and patience. Ren would be fine without her for a few more months until she was able to travel without anybody's permission.

The grudges were less kind. Your father only has to sign a piece of paper, they said. He hasn't been around all your life, what's wrong with one little request. They whispered about how beautiful the women in America were; how, as soon as he was there, Ren would no doubt come to his senses and realize she was just a plain, inexperienced little girl.

She looked up. Kato-san was still waiting for her reply.

"To be honest," Kyoko said, "I have someone in my life. They're not from around here, and they've got some rough times ahead of them. I don't know whether I can afford the plane fare—" she swallowed "—but if the need arises, I want to be there for them."

Kato-san nodded. "Very well. I shall go and get your documents then."

As he rose, he added. "Mogami-san? Your dedication to your friends is admirable." She waited for the 'but'. None came. Instead, Kato-san bowed at the waist, and left the office.

Ren was fidgeting.

He considered chain-smoking to alleviate his nerves, but with all his mother's health problems he was more put off from cigarettes than ever. Besides, he was hoping to kiss Kyoko at some point during the night, and she wouldn't appreciate it if he tasted like an ashtray.

They'd tweaked their dress code over the course of the afternoon - a game he'd suggested, to see how well they could tell each other from the crowd. He'd gotten a reddish-brown wig and yellow contacts from Jelly Woods, with the assurance that it was a role he'd never played before. He'd figured it was for one of those dorks-to-princes dramas, or some such - the ones Kawagoe Michika would star in - so he'd dressed for the awkward part. He was willing to bet anything, Kyoko had never seen him wear a sleeveless vest before. Or horn-rim glasses, for that matter. He'd wanted to laugh at his reflection, when he was done. He'd looked like a 100% dork.

On the other hand, he wasn't sure where Kyoko was or what she'd come as. A part of him wanted her to show up in her most princess-y outfit, ribbons and tulle and tiaras, just for the fun of it. But he knew she didn't have items like these on hand, and he doubted the studio would let her borrow any. At the end of the day…

"Senpai?"

He turned, starting to say that she wasn't to call him that, and his throat went dry.

Her wig was pitch black and arranged into a complicated twist, showing off her face and long neck. The kimono was also dark - a near black purple with pink blossoms embroidered on the collar, and sleeves that reached to the ground.

In the end, she'd gone for a princess look alright.

Just not the one he'd imagined.

"That's twice you see through a disguise," he managed.

Kyoko smiled, amused. "Yes, well… I had an advantage."

Ren took off his glasses and gave them a quick rub. "I'm embarrassed now, I don't know what self-respecting restaurant will have me."

That got another laugh from her, and an assurance that if worst came to worst they'd go to Daruma-ya. Ren felt like he might fly - the dreaded shooting was over, he was free to dress as any character he liked, and he could finally take the girl he loved on a date without pretending she was his sister.

But strangely, Kyoko didn't seem to notice the joy of that moment. She was, in fact, rather subdued - she let him talk, kept herself looking demure and polite, and when he tried to take her hand, he realized with annoyance both were clapped in front of her. As if she was still a hotel maid.

He hoped that she would relax more when they sat down, but when they found a restaurant, she stared at every part of the room, except at him.

At length, he said, "Kyoko. What's the matter?"

She started. "S…sorry. There's just… I've had a sort of strange day."

"Well… I think I can relate to that," he said. "In fact, I believe it is now my turn to be a sounding board, if you want one."

She chuckled. "Sounds like a difficult thing to be. What's on the job description?"

"Oh no, you're not derailing this conversation." Carefully, he slid across the booth so that their sides were touching. She blushed but, thankfully, did not move away. "If you don't want to talk… I understand, but if you want to share what's on your mind… I'm here to listen, okay?"

"It's not really a big deal," she said. "I just went to see Kato-san today, to talk about getting a passport."

All his good humor went out the window. Suddenly, he wasn't very hungry at all. "And?" he asked, hoping his voice didn't betray him.

"He was very nice," she said. "We discussed my options - the Fuwas were the obvious one, but I didn't want to ask them."

"Nor should you have to," Ren said.

She paused. Then, "I saw my birth certificate." Her fingers drummed against the table, then she started drawing patterns with her index. "I didn't recognize the name. Never even heard it - which I guess makes sense, if she wanted to forget him entirely."

Which was all well and good, but he couldn't figure out what that meant for him. Then he kicked himself - some sounding board he was.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"Kato-san said he would contact him, officially. It seems silly - I mean, I could have just waited." Kyoko sighed, then shook her head. "Nevermind. It's done. Kato-san said the two of us might not even have to meet."

Yet the notion of that was making her anxious - he could tell as much. "Do you want to meet him?" he asked.

"I don't know." She admitted, leaning a bit into him. He took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her shoulders, while she rested her head against his chest. "It feels so strange," she whispered. "I never thought of him before. I didn't think I would want to meet him, if I had the chance. I don't know what I would say to him if I did. I just… I'm afraid of what would happen, if I let him go."

"I understand," he said, kissing her hair. "I understand."

They stood this way for a while longer, embracing each other. Their food seemed to lose its appeal - he'd wanted them to celebrate, yet somehow, nothing seemed appetizing. All he wanted to do was to hold her - all night, if he had to.

You have to come clean, Kuon reminded him. You have to do it.

Yes, that was the only thing he had to do. She'd done so much already - exposed herself to so much potential grief - he had to be honest with her. But how would he start such a conversation? Speaking of fathers, you have already met mine. In fact, he asked you to play me when he visited Japan.

He wanted to die with embarrassment just thinking the words.

Mulling them over didn't yield any better ones, either - as they picked through their meal, then had the food wrapped to go, then on the walk across town. He had one more night left in Cain Heel's hotel, although strictly speaking, he didn't look like Cain Heel at all. Would they be okay, sneaking in? Kyoko seemed to have finally relaxed, but for some reason, he couldn't imagine just shoving her against the door and kissing her senseless like he had done so many other nights. Something about her tonight made him want to treat her tenderly. Like she was a princess.

Kyoko, for her part, wished she could just relax and enjoy herself. It was a rare time they had together - rarer still, if it turned out her biological father was someone even Mogami Shinobu didn't want to associate with.

Ren was lovely, at least. Ren was so kind, and gentle, and…

She felt so happy. She was just plain happy. It was so rare, and he seemed to love her, no matter what mood she was in, if she was switched on at all or not. Once, she felt like she had to perform for everybody, never letting the ball drop, lest they see her as anything less than perfect. Now… now it felt okay.

She wanted to tell him that. His hotel was coming up, and she really, really wanted to find a way to say what she wanted to say to him before they had to part for the night. Then commotion on the other side of the street drew their attention, and all her intentions disappeared.

Because there, in the festival hall across the hotel, a limousine had pulled up with the logo of Sho's management company, and wouldn't you know it, the bastard was stepping out now - to the chorus of a thousand fangirls squealing. It was eerie - like looking at herself a million times over - and it was also nerve-wracking, because he could turn around and see her at any minute. There was no doubt about it - as stupid as Sho was sometimes, he could recognize her in or out of costume in seconds.

Luckily, Ren seemed to have realized that too, because he had her hand in his and was leading her into another street - not too fast, but not too slow either, making sure she could keep up, but without stopping for directions. They both knew the area - they knew where the service entrance was, and the quickest route to the back stairs.

It wasn't until they were on the staircase - hidden from cameras, and any potential passers-by - that Kyokoro looked at him. His eyes were wide behind the lenses, and one of his contacts had fallen off. But his real eyes weren't brown, she realized. They were blue.

A crystalline, almost transparent blue.

They took her breath away.

"I don't think they saw us," he said. "Are you okay?"

There was so much she didn't know about him. He kept things so close to his chest yet he never let it get too far. He always respected her - her boundaries and feelings - without making her feel like she owed him something in return. And now this.

In the span of a heartbeat, she realized there would probably be parts of Tsuruga Ren she might not understand or learn about. And she accepted that.

Instead of answering, she reached out, cupping his face in her hand. Her touch made him start, and the hand holding hers went very warm.

"Kyoko? Are you okay?"

"You make me so happy," she whispered. It felt… not like acting, this wasn't acting, but she did seem to leave her body all of a sudden. The fairies and grudges fell silent, and all she could think about was how he made her feel. "I'm so glad we had this time together."

He trembled, as he reached out to take her other hand. "We'll have more time," he said, kissing it. "I promise you that." He kissed it again. Then, because she was tired of her hands getting all the attention, she raised herself on her tippy toes and smashed her mouth against his.

She would not have lasted very long, straining like a ballet dancer, but Ren's arms were around her in an instant, lifting her up and holding her close. Her legs, as if they had a volition of their own, wrapped around his waist. He made a sound at the back of his throat - pain? No, his response was too warm for that, which suited her just fine. She felt like she was spinning out of control.

Then a door banged somewhere and they pulled apart, realizing two things: they were out in the open, and there was no way of explaining away the position they were in.

But when he set her down, Kyoko did not stammer out a goodbye or leave. She removed a scarf and a cap from her purse, then, once the two of them had covered their heads, took his hand and led him upstairs to his room - their room, because she had as much claim to it as he. She opened the door, and she shut it, and turned the lock. As she heard the click, she felt a stab of apprehension - just a small one - but it washed away as she turned and let her scarf - and her intricate wig - fall on the floor.

Ren took off his glasses. His mismatched eyes - how could he not realize he'd lost a lens? - were asking a question.

He opened his arms to her. Without hesitation, she stepped in.

A/N Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out, everyone. There's been some family stuff going on, and when it happens, you feel bad for sitting down and doing something for yourself. Also, my PhD's been kicking up again which means I have to drive the pedal to the metal and get the work done.

As they say on RuPaul, "You better work!"

I hope you enjoyed the chapter at least.