Chapter 3
The next day Maria went to Sawara-san, who was busy with mountains of paperwork and a phone ringing non-stop.
"Uncle!" She yelled out, and Sawara jumped out of his seat.
"Ah, Maria-chan, I told you not to do that to me anymore." He started gathering all the items he dropped.
She giggled and helped him while she asked, "Do you know if onee-sama is going to be in today?"
"Onee-sama? Mogami-san?" He asked and Maria nodded.
"I believe she is in school all day today, so no she won't be in. Do you need her for something?"
"Yes, very badly. Does she get out at 12 like me?"
Sawara sighed. "No, she gets out at 3:30. I can give you her number and you can try and call her." Sawara scribbled down her number on a post it and handed it to her. She hopped up and took a hold of Sawara's neck making him bend to the side.
"Thank you, Uncle!" She hugged him and he patted her arms with a small smile.
12:50pm
Kyoko packed up the last lesson's books and started to pull out the next. They actually had a quick 10 minute break before the next lesson and everyone was taking a small restroom break, checking their phone or chatting with their neighbor.
She wondered if all her time growing up completely friendless attributed to her lack of friends now. She's been in here for almost 8 months and she still hasn't made a friend within the class. She looked around the room and found Mimori-chan.
Then again, other evil elements could contribute to that little fact too. She sighed. Even now, with Sho out of her life, he was still making her school life miserable. But then she had Moko-san and Amamiya-san now as her friends. Her mind wondered to a handsome face. Could she count Tsu… Ren as one of her friends?
She shook her head, best not to presume anything. She was looking through her purse for her chap stick when she noticed that she had a message. Her face softened and her lips spread into a smile. She flipped it open and her face twisted in confusion. Unknown caller has called 5 times within the last hour and has left 5 new voice mails.
Panic rushed through her. What if something bad happened? Like he got sick again and Yashiro isn't there to help or something fell on top of him and he couldn't get out from underneath or some rapid fan girl has taken him hostage and they were calling in for a ransom.
Never mind the fact that there was no reason that he would call her in any of those situations but horrible thoughts and images flooded her mind as she dialed in her code to hear her messages.
First message at 12:12 pm.
Onee-sama, Uncle gave me your number to call you. Call me back, okay?"
Relief flooded her and Kyoko let out the breath she was holding, then she blushed. It was Maria. Of course, he wouldn't call her. What reason would he have anyway?
Second message at 12:18 pm.
I forgot to give you the number. Call me back at 03-6387-3562. Kay! Bye!"
Kyoko replayed the message and wrote down the number. She would have to call back after class was over.
Third message at 12:29 pm.
Onee-sama, you haven't called back yet. We need to talk.
Forth Message at 12:41 pm
ONEE-SAMA! I NEED YOU!
Kyoko started to feel that panic rush back into her as she heard that message and started to pack her things as she heard the fifth message.
Where are you! I'm getting scared. Why haven't you called me back yet?
She had everything stuffed into her bag and in her hands and she quickly made her way up to the desk. She bowed down and apologized profusely for having to leave in a hurry but the teacher simply nodded and handed her today's assignment. It was a very common thing but that didn't make Kyoko feel any better about doing it.
She left half running out the door and quickly dialed the number she wrote. It answered in the first ring.
"Onee-sama?"
"Maria! What's wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Tell me where you are? I'll be there in a flash." She dumped all of her things in the little basket and was unlocking her bike.
Maria giggled. "I'm fine. I was hoping I could see you today after school."
Kyoko collapsed just as she reached the outer gates. Several people looked at her oddly and took a wide berth walking around the strange girl.
"Maria, don't scare me like that. I would be happy to spend some time with you today but you could have been a little more patient. I took off early because you made me worry."
"I'm sorry onee-sama. I didn't mean to," she sounded genuinely sad but then her voice changed to something more upbeat and normal, "So does this mean that you can come now?"
Kyoko sighed. She did excuse herself for the day and she got her assignments. It would be silly to go back due to a false emergency. She stood up and brushed off her skirt. "Yes, I can but Maria, you have to promise me that you won't do that again unless it's a real emergency."
"Yes, onee-sama, I promise. I'm here at LME!" She yelled into the phone making Kyoko flinch. She nodded to no one, said goodbye and left to LME. It took about 30 minutes to get there but she was greeted by a very excited Maria in the lobby.
"Onee-sama!" She ran to her and Kyoko couldn't help but smile back at her. She crouched down and hugged her.
"Okay, so what did you want to see me about?" Kyoko asked as Maria pulled back with a smile. Maria had been thinking of an excuse to go out and spend time with Kyoko and ask her questions. Finally she found an obvious one.
"Grandfather wants me out of the building, but I need someone with me. I was hoping you would."
Kyoko blinked and asked, "You need a babysitter?"
"I'm not a baby!" Maria huffed and crossed her arms clearly upset.
"Of course you're not. I'm sorry. I can spend the day with you. What time do you need to be back home?"
Maria easily forgave her and smiled. "It doesn't matter as long as I'm with you, grandfather won't care."
Kyoko flashed to an image of President Takarada glaring down at her angrily for making his little granddaughter stay out so late. She shuttered in fear and then smiled weakly at Maria.
"I think I'll have you home by 7. That will still give us 5 whole hours out and about. Does that sound good?" She asked cheerily and stood up.
Maria thought about it for a moment. Was 5 hours enough time? Well if she needed more she was sure she could make something up to stall. She nodded and took her hand.
"Okay, Where do you…" Kyoko started walking out and noticed what she was wearing. Going out in her school uniform was a bad idea during school hours. She might get blamed for skipping.
"I'm going to need to change first, so let's go to my place okay?"
Maria was about to jump up and agree but then remembered why she had to spend time with her. She had to find out how she felt about Ren and if her room was anything like her LoveMe locker it would be completely empty of pictures and very neat.
Yes, Maria snuck in and looked through it. It took all of ten minutes. Most of the time was spent trying to see what was on the top shelf, which ended up being a big fat nothing. Then Maria thought of something fun and excitedly offered, "Let's borrow clothes from here. They have lots of pretty things that anyone can use and we can play dress up!"
Nothing else in the world would have gotten Kyoko to agree quicker than that last line. She had never played dress up before and her spirit and mind when to fantasy land. As soon as they arrived, she was a little shy about going in to play with professional company items, but it seemed that Maria did this often, and that a large portion of President Takarada's costumes were here as well.
Much to Kyoko's delight the first thing they did was dress up as princesses going from English princesses to Asian and Egyptian and even some from ancient Maya culture in South America. They had costumes for everything. Kyoko dressed up as a prince with Maria the princess. They were safari hunters, police men, pirates and then cartoon characters and even comic book heroes.
Did you know that Maria also had people do their hair and light makeup while "playing" dress-up? At first Kyoko politely refused the offer but then Maria convinced her to do little things. First it was light lipstick, then a little eye shadow and then they styled her hair just a little. Finally she had everything done and they changed the accessories to her hair and clothes.
Then Maria wanted something more adult. They found normal clothes that were both in their sizes and dressed alike. Kyoko enjoyed trying on other country's clothes from Switzerland's swiss miss outfit with the little frilly skirt and suspenders to the Spanish pancho and sombrero. They dressed up in very formal kimonos and then in Chinese dresses.
"Wow." Maria stood there stunned as Kyoko came out in the Chinese dress. It was a very dark blue with a silver dragon crawling around her body. It was long to her ankles and it had a tear drop opening high at her chest. There was also a very long slit starting from her hip all the way down to reveal a skimpy pair of silver heels. The stylists slicked her hair down and gave her a small curve that almost touched her right eye. They put in a blue hair pin with small silver flowers falling softly down the right side.
"This is very tight," Kyoko admitted as she walked over to the mirror they were looking at all day, and Maria was speechless.
"You look beautiful," she said it slow, and Kyoko looked down to see her face in awe. She smiled at her.
"Thank you, Maria. I'd give you a hug but I think I might tear the dress if I bend down." She made a funny face which made Maria laugh.
"Are you going to put yours on?" They found another Chinese dress for her to wear, different colors and patterns one more fitting to a child but Maria shook her head. They spent over three hours playing in the costume department and she completely forgot about her master plan.
"No, we should go. Grandfather says I spend too much time in LME," she told her. A line that was completely true though it was one that she would normally dismiss. LME was fun!
"Oh okay. Let me change and we will go." Kyoko turned on her heel when Maria stopped her.
"No. I want you to go like that," the litttle girl stated almost in a command.
Kyoko was taken aback. "Ah, Maria, I can't do much in a dress like this. Don't you want to go play in the park or something?"
"No, why would we do that?" She said it like it was the most atrocious thing in the world. Play outside in the dirt? Why?
"Ah of course," Kyoko almost sighed. "so what did you want to go do? Play a game? Watch a movie?"
"A movie! Yeah!"
Kyoko found out it would be impossible to ride her bike in the dress but Maria already had that problem solved. A car waited for them as soon as they stepped out of the building. Maria was back in her normal frilly dress while Kyoko tried her hardest not to let the slit bother her too much.
Walking in it was fine. It was a snug fit but it was like a second skin. Still she felt like it would rip at the seams if she did any type of labor in it. It was not as versatile as a kimono was.
She was playing with Maria as the car drove off. Maria had told the driver where she wanted to go and he did. Kyoko noticed that they had passed the closest theater that she knew of but perhaps Maria knew of a better one.
"So what do you want to watch? A cartoon or a funny movie?" Kyoko asked.
"ACTION!" She yelled out excitedly.
She was stunned. Action? Maybe there was a kid's adventure movie out that she wanted to see. There was no way she was going to take her into an adult action movie. However once they arrived to Maria's destination, Kyoko was speechless.
There she stood on the set of Tsu…Ren's movie holding on to Maria's hand. The moment she realized that they were at a studio and not a theater she tried futilely to get her to watch an already made movie.
Kyoko needed to talk to Maria but she couldn't make a loud sound while they were filming. She grimaced thinking about the dress. If she bent down her slit was facing the room. Well no one was looking towards them anyway. They were behind all of the crew. She crouched down and could feel the dress hike up. It felt like it was revealing her hip let alone her entire thigh. She tried to cover the slit as it revealed the whole span of her leg but failed. She turned towards the side slightly hoping to hide and whispered softly in Maria's ear.
"Maria, this movie is still in production. They don't like it when visitors come and interrupted the sh…" There was a loud crash extremely close to them and both of the girls froze and searched for the sound.
They found a blushing stage hand that had dropped a lot of trays of something and was quickly trying to pick it up unnoticed.
"What are you doing over there?" The director yelled and everyone was forced to stop. Kyoko stood up since everyone was now looking at her direction and she wanted to hide. Maria giggled and pulled her hand.
"He was looking at you, onee-sama," she said with a teasing smile.
"Shhh, Maria. He probably tripped on the cables," Kyoko snapped a little upset at what has happened. She could feel the heat on her face from embarrassment. No doubt if he was looking at her, he was stunned that someone would dress so inappropriately.
"Kyoko-chan?" A male voice was near and she recognized it as the director that yelled.
She bowed down deeply, making the slit reveal a little leg. "I'm so sorry for ruining the shoot. We will be on our way, I promise!"
"Kyoko-chan, It's Shingai Seiji, don't you remember me?"
She stood up with wide eyes. "Oh! Shingai-san. It's very nice to see you again. I'm so sorry about the shoot. Maria wanted to see Ren-san shoot and for some reason they let us in and then I was about to leave but then he...," she was rambling.
"Okay. Okay. It's fine. We were due for a break anyway. So you are here for…Ren-san?" He smiled teasingly and couldn't take his eyes off of her. It was no wonder there was a scene. Even he couldn't stop looking at her stunning form.
"Yes, we are," Maria finally spoke up which drew everyone's attention to her. She smiled while holding Kyoko's hand.
"I see." He turned to the nearest person walking past and ordered, "Tell Tsuruga-san he has guests." Director Shingai turned towards them and bowed. "It was very nice seeing you again, Kyoko-chan. I do hope one day to have you in one of my films."
She perked up, "Oh that would be a great honor for me. I would love to." She bowed again and he smiled then started to walk away. His eyes roamed over her dressed in that chinese dress and his mind was filled of thoughts of a scripted he had read. Maybe she could...
"Everyone take your dinner break. 1 hour!" He yelled out and everyone started to move.
"Tsuruga-san! Your wife and kid are here!" The man screamed out and Kyoko froze in mid bow. In fact the whole studio seemed to have frozen with her including the man in question.
Maria was the only one who didn't seem effected. "I am not his kid," she screamed out angrily. Everyone let go a sigh of relief and continued on with their business. Kyoko, however, couldn't get her heart to start beating again.
"How dumb. I'm 8! That would have made Ren-sama like 10 years old when I was born," Maria complained.
"13, Maria." I would have been 9. How old do I look?
Maria looked up at Kyoko and watched her face twist in a lot of different emotions. She almost looked sad or upset about something. She was about to ask but her attention was drawn to the man walking up to them.
Her whole body wanted to rush over and have him pick her up but then she remembered her mission. This was it. She was going to see if her theories were true or not. Though in all honesty, her first thought was completely different.
He isn't looking at me.
She watched Ren walk over with his eyes completely on the woman next to her. It was like there was no one else around. He made a straight line to her. She turned her eyes to Kyoko. Kyoko was looking back at him. She wasn't fidgeting or looking away shyly, but Maria did notice that her hand started to get sweaty. The whole time they have been holding hands and they were dry until now, until Ren started coming over.
Ren stopped in front of them with that smile. She was getting use to seeing that soft gentle smile now. As soon as he stopped and smiled at her, her thumb started to softly caress Maria's hand over and over nervously.
"Hello wife," he said teasingly or at least that's how Kyoko took it. Kyoko blushed and looked away, her face growing a dark deep red. Maria thought he looked happy saying that.
"I…I didn't say… they assumed and… and I'm sooo sorry!" She bowed down and he laughed. Maria watched Ren's fingers rub together at his side as he watched her. Finally his gaze fell upon Maria.
"Maria-chan, thank you for clearing up that misunderstanding." He bent low and held out his arms. She couldn't help herself. She smiled gleefully and ran into his arms.
"Of course! It would be weird if you were my father and Onee-sama my mom. You would have had me when you were 13," she said proud of herself.
Kyoko grimaced and whispered horrified, "I would have been 9. I don't think that is humanly possible."
Ren laughed. "That's true. I would have liked to known you at that age though."
He turned to Maria and added, "I wouldn't have minded a daughter like you too." He tapped her nose playfully and smiled. It wasn't that smile though. It was his normal one - the one she always saw. She frowned as he turned his face to the still blushing woman in front of him. She watched him change again, and she felt those unsaid words.
I wouldn't have minded you as my wife either.
Maria squirmed in his arms and he turned back at her with a confused look. Ren set her down and she quickly went back to Kyoko. His face went back to normal and Kyoko seemed to have gotten her color back to normal.
"So what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked.
"Oh, well Maria wanted to see you act. We are spending the day together." Kyoko hesitated then continued, "Where is Yashiro-san?"
"Ah, he had a little headache so he went to my dressing room to rest." Ren smiled. Thank you God for not having him out here when the crew man called Kyoko my wife.
"Oh, well, it's your dinner break, so we will leave you to eat."
"I'm hungry too!" Maria called out. There was no way that she was going to let her leave, not yet.
"That's perfect. I'm sure that you are hungry too, Kyoko," Ren quickly contributed to Maria's intrution. That blush that she was finally able to get under control came back lightly.
"I don't know. We shouldn't bother you and you now have less than an hour. If all of us went it would take longer for them to cook your meal and then you might be late. It would be best if we let you be," she reasoned. She wasn't holding Maria's hand after she had returned to her side but Kyoko was now playing with her hair or the dress absent-mindedly.
"Then we will go to a sushi train. It will be quick and plentiful," Ren offered.
"What's a sushi train?" Maria asked and both looked down at her. Ren smirked, and Kyoko was in shock. She didn't know what a sushi train was?
"A sushi train is fast food sushi. Everything is already made and you simply pick out what you want to eat when it passes by you on a little moving belt. It's a very quick and easy way to eat, and I wouldn't dare let Ren-san go eat in a place like that," she finished with a glare to Ren.
"Well then I could always get some onigiri that would be fine with me," he threatened and started to leave, and Kyoko started to yell at him.
"Oh, no you don't, mister." She took Maria's hand and chased after him. "You and those awful onigiri, those things are horrible for your diet especially if you are doing so much in a film. You need protein and real nutrients if you want to do your best, not empty carbs," she continued as Ren cheerfully smiled and walked over to his dressing room to pick up Yashiro.
Kyoko was rushing to keep up. With Ren's long strides and then Kyoko's hurried steps, Maria felt like she was running. They finally got to his dressing room and Ren stepped inside leaving Maria in a flush.
Kyoko looked down and found her panting. "Oh, I'm sorry Maria. Ren-san has long legs doesn't he? I'm surprise he wasn't carrying you like he always does. Are you feeling okay?" She croutched down and felt her forehead.
Maria didn't want to say that she was uncomfortable in his arms while he was looking at her like that. It was like she didn't exist and her chest ached. The last time that happened he was mad at Kyoko but this time was completely different, the total opposite in fact.
"I'm fine. He was all sweaty and I didn't like it." She coughed up an excuse and then watched as Kyoko's face flushed lightly. Maria didn't understand why she would blush at that comment. She seemed deep in thought when the door opened again.
Maria looked up to find Yashiro-san stunned half way out the door. She followed his gaze and saw that he was in fact looking at Kyoko with wide eyes. Ren peeked over his shoulder to see what the hold up was and his eyes widened as well.
"Yashiro-san…." Ren threatened and both Yashiro and Kyoko shrank in fear. He coughed and averted his eyes as he stepped through.
"Good evening, Kyoko-chan, Maria-chan. How are you two?" He asked and Kyoko stood up hesitantly. One moment, there was this wash of anger and it felt like BJ was here, then it all vanished like it never happened. What was that about?
Maria answered first, "Hi Yuki-san. We were going to watch Ren-sama act but then onee-sama stopped the shooting." Everyone watched as Kyoko blushed and ran her hand down the front of her dress.
"Kyoko-chan, you look lovely this evening. What is the occasion?" He asked politely obviously talking about the very form fitting dress which earned him a small glare from Ren.
"Oh, um, well, we were playing dress up at LME and Maria liked this dress so I wore it for today. It's, um, interesting to wear in public." Her hand shifted to the slit and she was trying to grab enough to keep it closed but with no luck.
"You wear it beautifully, Kyoko," Ren said and both Yashiro and Kyoko blushed at his words.
"Thank you, Ren-san," she murmured and her hand started to fidget. Maria's hand felt soaked and she didn't want it to get rubbed raw again so she dropped Kyoko's hand.
"Maria?" She asked.
"I'm hungry so let's go," she said impatiently.
"Oh yes, you're right. We better go if we are going to eat." She held her hand out again but Maria shook her head. She walked over to Yashiro and Ren and Ren started to bend down, however she went pass him and to Yashiro.
Yashiro looked down at her with wide eyes as she lifted her arms up at him. He looked to the two stunned actors and then back at Maria who simply waited. Yashiro quickly handed Ren his planner and lifted Maria in his arms.
"Are you angry at me, Maria-chan?" Ren asked with a worried face.
She wanted to say yes. She wanted to cry and throw a temper tantrum but it was his feelings towards her sister, the only person she truly felt a connection to. Maria could dissuade any woman looking at him and trying to catch his eye but she never thought that anyone would catch his. She shook her head and tried look cheery.
"No, but you are tired so Yuki-san can carry me." She looked at Yashiro. "You don't mind, do you?" She asked him. A stunned Yashiro quickly shook his head.
"No, I don't mind as long as you don't," he answered.
She nodded once and then pointed forward and cheered, "Let's eat!" Everyone looked at her oddly but then started out the door. Kyoko ended up in the front seat with Ren at Maria and Yashiro's insistence.
Maria sat behind Ren because she wanted to watch Kyoko. She was sure of how Ren felt. She wasn't sure about her feelings yet. Yashiro was more than happy to sit behind Kyoko, because he wanted to see… he smiled. He wanted to watch Ren's reaction as Kyoko stepped into his car.
With that dress and the high slit on the left side, her stepping in must be a real juicy sight and both of the men weren't disappointed. Kyoko hesitated going in but she knew she had to hurry up and do it or she would make them later than they already are. She took a deep breath, placed her hand on the slit to hold it together as much as possible and stepped in.
Yashiro grinned as he watched Ren completely ogled her stepping in. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and his eyes darkened. When she finally sat down she squirmed in her seat and Ren had to look away.
"What's so funny, Yuki-san?" Maria asked innocently and he shut up quickly. Ren turned a glare at him through the rear view mirror.
"Ah… nothing, Maria-chan, I was thinking of a funny story," he quickly lied.
"Oh, what is it? Please tell." She asked excitedly.
"Yes, Yuki-san, do tell," Ren said mockingly with a gentleman's smile and Yashiro shrunk into his seat. He made a quick excuse and quickly changed the subject to Maria and what she was doing recently. She filled the ride quickly with chatter about things saving Yashiro from certain death.
The ride was short which was on purpose. They did not end up at a sushi train restaurant but at an okonomiyaki shop. Kyoko was sure she could cook enough food with plenty of time for them to eat.
They took a booth to the back and Kyoko sat in her normal spot across from Ren, thankful that her slit was going to face a wall instead of the crowd.
"Sit on that side, onee-sama!" Maria suddenly commanded. Kyoko looked at Maria who was still standing and then Ren who stopped before sitting down. Yashiro was grinning like an idiot behind them.
"But, I'm fine here, Maria. Come on and sit down with me," Kyoko almost sounded like she was whinning but stoped slightly short of it.
Yashiro coughed and put on his best professional appearance. "Kyoko-chan, you are going to have to get use to hiding in public like Ren here. It would be best for you to learn to always sit away from the crowd," He continued before she could argue. "It's getting late and we must hurry if we are going to eat."
That was the clincher. She sighed and looked up at Ren who gave her a sympathetic look. She slipped out and once again she had to flash the room with this dreadful dress. As she was about to sit down, Ren stepped close to her covering up anyone's view of her leg as she sat.
'Thank you' she mouthed and he nodded with a smile. As if I would allow anyone but myself a glimpse of that beautiful pure flesh. Why did Maria-chan have to pick that one of all the things she could wear? Maria was right thought. She did look devastatingly gorgeous in it and he was lucky enough to get the full effect of the form fitting Chinese dress as he sat down next to her.
They chatted a little while the food was being gathered for them. Maria noticed that Kyoko wouldn't stop twitching slightly. Her arms were moving every so often too. Everyone seemed distracted and she ducked her head under the table to the other side. There was a pale glimpse of her thigh that the slit refused to cover as she was sitting down. Kyoko was trying to pull her skirt over her thigh with no luck. She was able to cover her knees down with her very formal way of sitting. She watched as Kyoko suddenly yanked the cloth making her hand slip and hit Ren's thigh.
She heard her gasp from her sistter and then watched as Ren took her hand under the table and held on to it. Maria popped her head up and saw Ren leaning over and whispering into her ear. Kyoko was blushing again and then nodded quickly. Finally, Kyoko brought her hand up and then jumped suddenly. Maria didn't think her face could get any darker but there it was and then Ren pulled his hand up with a smirk.
"Is everything okay?" Yashiro asked trying to swallow his excitement.
"Everything is perfect," Ren said and the food came.
Everyone could see the relief in Kyoko once she started cooking. She was in her element and had quickly made up three savory pancakes in a flash. Everyone knew she could cook but what surprised a few as that Yashiro wanted to make his own.
"You cook, Yashiro-san?" Kyoko asked as Ren started on his and Maria dived into hers.
"I do. I cook whenever I can actually. I do live alone. You can't expect me to live off of onigiri's like someone else I know," he said smugly and then Kyoko tilted her head in curiosity.
"What can you cook?"
"Oh well lots of little things. It's nothing as fancy as your food but simple meals like curry and such. I don't really get to cook often since we are always out for work," he replied honestly.
"So if you can cook, why do you ask me to cook for Ren-san? You can make him meals if you are worried about him too."
Ren snorted, trying to hide his laughter.
"Ah, Ren-san, are you okay? Are you choking?" She was rubbing and patting his back.
He shook his head. "I'm fine. Sorry." He turned to Yashiro with a smile and asked, "Yes, why do you ask her to cook for me if you can do it? I wouldn't mind trying your cooking, manager."
Yashiro glared at him and smiled. "But you are a much better cook than I am, Kyoko-chan plus I'm often extremely tired after working all day. You remember what that was like, right, Kyoko-chan?"
"Oooh yes," she said it like it was a shared experience that only Yashiro and she would know.
Ren turned and looked at her confused. "And what is that suppose to mean?"
She blushed. "Well, Ren-san…" she bit her lip, "you have a very hectic schedule and that takes some getting use to. I enjoyed every minute with you but I think I rather stay your co-star than your manager."
Then she panicked at little and added, "Oh but I wouldn't mind doing it again, if you ever need me again that is."
Ren smiled. "I understand. I'm sure most managers would have quit by now."
"Oh I wouldn't give this up, it pays too well," Yashiro said with a serious tone. Kyoko was taken aback for a moment then he smiled. "Not that I could leave my little brother to the wolves."
"Little brother?" Kyoko asked curious.
Ren laughed. "Once Yashiro-san got really drunk and told me he thought of me as a little brother. I figured we were more friends than brothers but there you have it."
Kyoko laughed and nodded. "That fits well actually."
They all ate and Kyoko made a few more okonomiyaki which were eaten quickly. Maria watched as they all laughed and smiled. Ren would sometimes gaze at her for a few moments and then pull himself away. She would see Yashiro smile knowingly with an excited sparkle in his eye.
Kyoko would blushed, mumbled or looked away shyly throughout the night. She was always so hesitant when Ren asked her things. She remembered how Kyoko wouldn't go to lunch with him at first but then she did after a few minutes. Maria had a certain suspicion that she had to make clear.
Ren stood up and went to go pay before Maria even realized what was happening. Kyoko tried to argue about him paying and followed him up. Yashiro smiled at them as she tried to convince Ren to let her pay for some when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned to Maria.
"Is everything okay, Maria-chan?"
She pressed her lips together and then whispered, "Is onee-sama "playing hard to get" with Ren-sama?"
Yashiro looked down at Maria with wide eyes. "Excuse me?"
"Grandfather told me that people want what they can't have and that was "playing hard to get". Does this mean that onee-sama wants Ren or the other way around?"
Yashiro was speechless for several reasons. For one, for her to notice something between the two of them was interesting and then the fact that she could see the signs of playing hard to get but she didn't quite understand what that meant. All she knew was that it had something to do with liking another person.
"When a person "plays hard to get" it means they are trying to get someone's attention, to get someone to look at them. So you are saying that Kyoko-chan wants Ren's attention by playing with him. No, Kyoko-chan would never do that. She is too honest with her feelings and respects everyone too much to play a game like that," Yashiro answered with certianty.
Maria understood that much more now. Yashiro watched her process what he said. He hoped that she could understand. It was a very adult concept.
"Maria," Yashiro asked curiously,"are you seeing how they feel about each other? Is that way you didn't want to be with Ren?"
She blushed and Yashiro knew he hit it square on the head. Then he felt sad for the little girl. It was obvious that she had a crush on Ren and that she often drove away any girls that spoke to him, all except for one, her onee-sama, Kyoko.
Maria watched the two come back. Ren was smiling down at her and Kyoko was slightly upset but she could tell it wasn't serious. Ren playfully batted the little flowers dangling from her hair making Kyoko flush slightly and look up at him with a dazzling smile and Maria caught something in her eye. She had been seeing it all night. She would look up at Ren while he spoke about something, and she saw something there.
It was something she thought she wouldn't see in her sister, the founder of the LoveMe group. So many unknown emotions flooded through her mind as she saw the signs. She was upset, scared, sad, curious and just plain confused by everything.
They were in love just like in grandfather's TV show, and she didn't know how to feel about that.