Chapter 2: The Rain

Pairing: Kyoko/Ren, with Kyoko/Sho hijinks

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Time period: Everything canon – spoilers for Chapter 149

Once the initial embarrassment wore off, Kyoko found herself genuinely enjoying herself. (Even if she hadn't found it absolutely necessary to showcase her fall down the stairs five times in a row in both slow-mo and super slow-mo, enabling the camera to catch every variation of expression as she fell. The result was both hilarious and mortifying.) Despite that, the editors of the gag reel really had done a great job, she decided, as she watched a season full of their blunders unfold, humiliation by humiliation. She was laughing so hard she was practically in tears as the section on wardrobe malfunctions concluded with Matsuura Seiji, who played a student interested in Mizuki, and his infamous pants-splitting incident. Her tumble down the stairs seemed downright graceful in comparison, as she watched him shuffle off the screen, holding his pants together with his hand.

The highlight of the reel had to belong to Momose, though. Kyoko had been in the dressing room the day it had happened, and she had returned to find the cast and crew involved in the scene engaged in a fit of raucous laughter as Momose sat awkwardly on the ground clothed in only a skirt and a camisole, looking as if she'd rather be anywhere but there. Kyoko remembered thinking that it was extremely unprofessional of them to laugh when Momose had to perform in such a skimpy wardrobe – the scene had been the one where Mizuki was changing for a party. One of the cameramen had looked at Kyoko somewhat desperately and managed to spurt out what sounded like "Hachi i!" before laughter overtook him once again. "Hachi?" Kyoko had repeated slowly, wondering how "eight" could possibly even begin to explain the pandemonium currently underway. But then, Kyoko had been called back to wardrobe, and by the time she had returned, everyone had apparently calmed down enough to continue filming. Kyoko had dutifully completed her scenes, and by the end of the evening, she had forgotten about the strange incident all together.

Now, Kyoko was able to see the events prior to her arrival. The scene began with Mizuki rummaging through her closet in search of something acceptable to wear to a Hongo family party while Misao offered snide comments from her perch on Mizuki's bed. Momose had her hand on the aqua dress Kyoko knew Mizuki was supposed to retrieve from the closet when she suddenly froze and looked down at her chest. And then she was shrieking, jumping up and down like a three-year-old throwing a temper tantrum. Her face turned bright red as she ran in panicked circles around the stage, beating at her chest as she screamed, "Bee! Bee! BEEEE!" Oohara, wanting no part of that, immediately bolted from the stage, shrieking wildly as Momose tried desperately to remove the bee from her camisole. The scene careened violently as Oohara, in her haste to be as far from the bee as possible, stumbled into the camera, knocking it onto its side on the ground. Then, all that could be seen were Momose's feet, running around rampantly on the right side of the screen, Spiderman-style.

It was total chaos. The entire audience was laughing uproariously as Momose's shrieking continued on unflaggingly in the background. And then the cameraman was struggling with the camera, attempting to right it as Momose sank to her knees, peering at something small on the ground. She quickly located a shoe from her left and, like a woman possessed, proceeded to violently whack at the object in front of her, yelling, "Die! Die! DIE!" But Momose's aim was disturbingly inaccurate considering the close distance, and eventually, the bee, completely unscathed, wiggled around a little bit and took off. The camera followed it as it buzzed over towards an open window and disappeared into the sunlight.

The last image of the reel was Momose, despondently looking after where the bee had escaped. And then, the camera caught the moment when it suddenly clicked in Momose's mind that the entire scene had been recorded. She opened her mouth a few times and finally managed to spurt out desperately, "That better not go on the gag reel!"

The cast and crew on the video and the audience erupted into simultaneous laughter, and Kyoko could see Momose ducking her head in embarrassment from her position over by the bar. Oohara threw an arm around her shoulder and squeezed, winking at her as she did so, and Momose managed a bashful smile as she felt the eyes of the audience turn to her. "It was trying to molest me!" she shouted out defensively, which only served to make the laughter louder.

The lights snapped back on shortly after, and the audience immediately broke out into thunderous applause interspersed with the occasional whistle. Takarada took the stage once again and leaned into the mike, gesturing animatedly to Momose. "Itsume-kun," he crooned teasingly over the noise of the crowd. "I think you'd better get up here and take a bow." There was much back and forth between the two of them with Momose shaking her head emphatically and Takarada crooking a finger demandingly at her. At long last, Momose relented and trudged her way up to the stage. Takarada grinned as she stepped beside him. He raised an eyebrow at her, and Momose muttered something the microphone didn't catch as she bowed quickly to the crowd. Kyoko had to cover her ears as the deafening roar of the crowd rose to astronomical levels, grinning maniacally through it all.

"Let's get both our stars up here." Takarada waved an arm at Ren. Kyoko watched as Ren, ever the consummate professional, dutifully obliged, strolling casually up to the stage in that self-assured way of his that never failed to secure her admiration. Even after months in front of a camera, she still hadn't mastered the whole "being comfortable in front of a crowd" thing that Ren seemed innately adept at.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe it goes without saying that without the marvelous performances brought about by these two, Dark Moon would never have surpassed Tsukigomori's all-time record ratings." He paused as the crowd enthusiastically agreed. He looked from Ren to Momose as he turned to address the two of them. "In light of the fact that your tenure as television's most popular couple has come to a close, there is still one last task for you to fulfill." He nodded his head at the DJ, and the DJ pressed a few buttons.

Dark Moon's sweeping melancholy theme music filled the room, and both Ren and Momose smiled at each other knowingly. Ren gallantly offered his hand, and Momose took it easily as they descended the stairs and made their way to the dance floor. Momose put her left hand on Ren's shoulder; he circled his right hand around her waist. And then they slowly began to move together.

Kyoko stared at them wistfully. The two of them really would make a good couple. Momose's delicate looks complimented Ren's more striking features, making them a ridiculously beautiful physical match, and both were on relatively equal footing in terms of their professional careers. (Of course, to Kyoko, Ren was in a class all of his own, but she supposed Momose was successful enough to at least stand up with him.)

Their bodies were in perfect tune with one another as they swayed gracefully around the dance floor. She watched Momose laugh gently at something Ren whispered in her ear, and a dull ache began to knot in her chest.

"Kyoko-chan?"

She jumped at Yashiro's voice. "H-hai?" she managed to squeak out spastically. She inwardly cringed.

Yashiro smiled at her unconcernedly. "Care to?" He held out his hand.

Kyoko stared at his outstretched hand as if it were a sea slug.

Yashiro remained nonplussed. "Come on, it'll be fun," he prodded. "Besides, everyone else is doing it."

Kyoko's eyes swung back towards the dance floor where she discovered that there were, indeed, other couples joining Ren and Momose. She took a moment to wonder at her obliviousness before turning back to Yashiro.

"I haven't danced in years," she warned ominously as she hesitantly took his hand.

"I'll take my chances," Yashiro assured easily, leading her on to the dance floor. There was an awkward moment while they figured out where to put their hands, and then they were off.

"You don't give yourself enough credit," Yashiro said after they had been dancing for a few moments. "You're good at this, Kyoko-chan."

Kyoko smiled uncertainly. "Really? Because right now, I feel like I'm about to fall flat on my face."

"Just relax." Yashiro spun her around a little, and then spun her again for good measure.

She giggled, head buzzing happily. "No more spinning!" she begged, laughing earnestly. "I'm going to topple over, and then you'll be really sorry!"

"Okay, okay," Yashiro chuckled. "I suppose I should refrain from anything that might result in toppling. Even if it would be entertaining." He grinned at her.

Kyoko smiled in return and concentrated on not stepping on Yashiro's toes. For all his compliments, it was apparent to Kyoko that Yashiro was the truly gifted dancer. He led her easily, confidently moving her around the floor without being too overbearing. He let her adjust to the rhythm on her own, and it wasn't long before she felt completely capable of keeping up her end of the dancing.

She caught sight of Ren and Momose over Yashiro's shoulder when they swayed past the bar. She must have reacted somehow, because then, Yashiro was following her line of vision. He regarded her pensively for a moment. "They look good together, don't they?" he asked at length.

Kyoko idly wondered if Yashiro had acquired mind-reading abilities. She sighed, and smiled faintly. "That, they do."

Yashiro nodded, eyes still trained on her. "But … I don't think that that particular Dark Moon pairing will ever come to pass." He paused. "She's not really Ren's type," he clarified.

Kyoko felt an inexplicable wave of relief that she chose not to examine too closely. "What is his type?" she blurted out. And then promptly regretted it. Her cheeks burned as she considered the implications of her question.

Yashiro was looking at her with an expression she couldn't quite decipher, an odd smile on his lips. "Can't really say," he said finally, looking back at Ren. "He hasn't been in a serious relationship in quite some time."

"I shouldn't have asked," Kyoko muttered. "Sumimasen … it's none of my business."

Yashiro shrugged. "I don't know about that. You two are friends, aren't you? It's perfectly natural for you to be curious about your friend's likes and dislikes."

"Friends?" Kyoko parroted distractedly, and then the music shifted in the background, temporarily bringing them to a halt. Dark Moon's somber theme continued to fade out gradually as another song weaved its way through the speakers. She vaguely recognized the bittersweet melody as an American song she had heard a time or two in the karaoke bars, and Yashiro started them out slowly. She adjusted to the slower tempo of the song, and found herself translating the sorrowful lyrics in her head. Because I can't make you love me if you don't, the woman crooned, and Kyoko found herself oddly affected by the words. Her mind drifted to thoughts of Sho, and how devastated she had been when she had realized she was the only one in love. She sighed softly.

Kyoko knew she was no longer in love with him, but suddenly, she was feeling the grief of that loss all over again. And, unwittingly, she found herself seeking Ren out. She spotted him after a few moments, still dancing with Momose. Momose's head was currently leaning on his chest, and her eyes were closed tightly. And Ren was …

Well … Ren was looking straight at Kyoko.

Their eyes locked instantly, intensely, and then she felt a familiar heat rush to her face. She silently cursed his ability to reduce her to a gooey puddle with just one look.

Lately, that had been happening a lot.

She didn't know what was happening to her. She'd never been exactly comfortable around Ren, but this immediate, what she could only define as "girly," reaction to him was a bit unsettling. It was as if her hormones were in a perpetual state of overdrive, with no sign of stopping. And even though she knew that most females believed there to be no escape from "The Tsuruga Effect," she had proudly claimed for the better part of a year that his presence had had no effect on her at all.

Except for that one time, when she was playing Mizuki. But they had been in character, and that could hardly count.

Either way, she was aware things were completely different now.

Logically, she knew the kiss on her cheek didn't mean anything more than a gesture of thanks from her sempai. They had talked about it. At length. In great detail. But she was unable to convince her body of this obvious fact, as it reacted of its own accord whenever he was in the room. Suddenly, looks from him were looks, and her immunity vanished so swiftly that she was left wondering if she had ever had any to begin with.

Kyoko tried to remind herself that it wasn't exactly his fault – after all, he couldn't help that he was born this beautiful, and he certainly had no intention of eliciting this kind of reaction from her, of all people. But sometimes, an errant thought would weave its way through and leave her wondering if there wasn't the tiniest of possibilities that he knew exactly how he affected her. She usually dismissed this thought almost as quickly as it formed, but she wasn't entirely oblivious to the growing number of moments between them that were becoming more and more difficult to write off as purely innocent. Looks that lasted a fraction too long, light touches that raised the hairs on her arms, eyes that conveyed the weight of things left unsaid …

Like the look he was giving her now. It was one of his more complicated expressions; she couldn't quite make it out. It felt a little sad to her, as he gazed at her unsmilingly. But then, Momose was saying something to him, and his eyes snapped back to his dancing partner. Kyoko felt the disconnect like a physical blow, and she frowned a little.

"Kyoko-chan? Are you okay?" Yashiro was looking at her with concern, and shamefully, she realized that she had been ignoring him for … well, she wasn't quite sure how long it had been.

"Everything's fine," she assured him softly. "I was just … enjoying the music."

Yashiro looked at her skeptically, but didn't say anything after that. She blew out a breath in relief, waited until the song ended, and then politely excused herself to go use the facilities.

***

"This is ridiculous," Kyoko scolded herself as she stared into the bathroom mirror. "Completely ridiculous."

She had spent the better part of an hour hiding out in the bathroom, internally assessing the predicament she found herself thoroughly a part of. The moment on the dance floor had left her more shaken than it should have, and she was forced to admit that her attraction to Ren was becoming a bit of a problem. Especially for someone who had no interest in falling in love, which she was still relatively certain she was capable of avoiding. But, even more so than wanting to avoid the big L word, she genuinely wanted to maintain the relationship she had with Ren before the damn kiss, before everything got turned so upside down. After all, it was pretty hard to learn anything substantial from someone if all you can do is drool on them the moment they enter a room. And, even though she didn't completely understand Ren's feelings for her – especially since all of her impressions of him were colored by the deeply annoying attraction she now felt towards him – she was pretty sure he wouldn't appreciate the whole drool thing.

She sighed. There was no denying that keeping her hormones at bay was going to be difficult. She wondered if she was just going to have to avoid him completely for a time. A sharp pain to her chest accompanied that particular thought, and she closed her eyes. Crap. This was worse than she had originally thought.

Kyoko took a deep breath and tried to think of what one of her characters would do in this situation. Mio … well, Mio was … No. She couldn't even imagine Mio feeling anything remotely like attraction. Ever. And Natsu … Well, Natsu would probably jump Ren and be done with it. That certainly wasn't an option. She shook her head in frustration.

Either way, she knew nothing would be solved by staying in the bathroom all night. That just made her look … weird. Weirder, she amended. And she owed it to herself and the rest of the people who had made her first drama such a great experience to at least say goodbye.

She took one last look at herself in the mirror, tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear, and strode purposefully towards the door.

***

"I was about to send for the cavalry," Yashiro said, looking up from his conversation with Ren as Kyoko approached them. "You missed all the speeches." He leaned in conspiratorially. "Director Ogata cried. It wasn't pretty."

Kyoko deftly avoided eye-contact with Ren as she smiled brightly at Yashiro. "Gomen-nasai! I got caught up talking with Moko-san. She called while I was in the bathroom."

Ren arched an eyebrow at her. "You get signal in there?"

Kyoko shrugged noncommittally.

It wasn't exactly an answer, but he seemed to accept it just the same, as he nodded thoughtfully, and then turned to Yashiro. "Has our friend left for the evening?" he asked quietly.

Yashiro's eyes drifted to Kyoko and then back to Ren. "About 10 minutes ago," he said slowly.

"Good." Ren turned back to Kyoko, and smiled at her warmly. "I'm going to circulate a little. Care to join me?"

Kyoko smiled in return and nodded. She had ultimately decided that the best course of action in regard to her little problem was to confront it head on. She figured the more time she spent with Ren, the more she would be able to gain some sense of control over herself. After all, if Ren's co-stars could eventually learn to tune out "The Tsuruga Effect," then she was determined to do the same.

They made the rest of the rounds around the party together, chatting agreeably with all the co-stars and crew they hadn't had a chance to speak with before. Kyoko learned that Oohara-san was already attached to do a drama with one of the minor male characters on Dark Moon. At that, she caught Ren's eye, and he raised an eyebrow as if to say, "See?" She smiled at him happily before turning back to Oohara-san to congratulate her. Then it was on to Momose-san, who was not without a few tears at the prospect of saying goodbye. And then there was Suzuki Hideki (one of the grips), Director Ogata, Ueda Toshio (the music coordinator), President Takarada, and so on and so on …

When all was said and done, Kyoko felt like she had run the 50K. Her feet pinched in more places than one, and she had stopped trying to actively stifle her yawning for a good while. She glanced at her watch, and her eyes widened at the hour.

"Tired?" Ren asked quietly.

She nodded. "I guess I should go try to get a cab."

Ren shook his head. "Don't you remember? Toshio-san was just saying that there's an hour wait for the cabs on account of the rain." He paused. "Why don't you let me take you home? I was going to leave soon anyway."

At the moment, Kyoko was too spent to examine all of the reasons for not taking Ren up on his offer. "If you're sure it's not too much trouble …"

"No trouble at all. Just let me get Yashiro."

***

The steady pitter-patter of the rain on Ren's windshield coupled with her genuine exhaustion lulled Kyoko to sleep almost as soon as they had left the party – she didn't even wake when Ren dropped Yashiro off at his place. So, it was while in the clutches of a particularly cracktastic dream that she gradually became aware of something gently nudging her left shoulder. Her eyes drifted open slowly and then closed again as she wavered on the edge of sleep. She wondered idly why the chickens in her dream continued to revolt despite all of her promises of free manicures – it was, after all, a great deal – before she felt the nudging again, this time accompanied by a softly spoken, "Mogami-san." She swatted at the source blindly and murmured sluggishly, "Just five more minutes."

"Kyoko-chan."

It wasn't said particularly loudly, but her eyes snapped open nonetheless. She couldn't have heard that right.

For a moment, she had difficulty remembering what she was doing, exactly, in a car, as she stared confusedly at a door handle. But the plopping of the rain on the windshield and the sight of the Daruyama out her window was an instant reminder. Right. No taxis. Ren. Driving her home.

She turned to apologize for falling asleep in his car only to find the words stick in her throat. He was close, his face only inches from hers, and his hand still rested on her shoulder. His eyes widened a little, and then darkened. And now her heart was in her throat, hammering rapidly. She let out a shaky breath slowly, praying that he didn't notice what his proximity did to her.

"Tsuruga-san?" she managed to squeak out.

Ren blinked slowly, and his eyes seemed to clear as he dropped his hand from her shoulder. "You fell asleep," he stated unnecessarily, and Kyoko wondered if she was only imagining the husky timbre in his voice.

"Uhh, yeah, I guess I did. Sorry about that." She bent to root around the floor of the car for her purse, the compulsion to flee of the utmost concern. "Thank you so much for the ride home," she blurted out quickly. "I won't keep you any longer." She located her purse wedged between the bottom of the seat and the door.

"You were dancing with Yashiro," Ren said suddenly, and something in his tone made her hand freeze on the door handle.

Kyoko blinked at him, confused, but he was looking straight in front of him. "I think Yashiro-san felt a little sorry for me," she said after a few moments. "He probably thought I felt left out. Or something."

Ren didn't say anything, apparently deep in thought. She was just about to pull the handle of the door, figuring the strange conversation to be over, when he sighed.

"I would have danced with you." And then his eyes were on hers, and she couldn't breathe. She held his gaze as he stared at her searchingly, and she didn't know what was happening anymore. Didn't know what he wanted from her. He blew out a breath, and smiled a little sheepishly. "I wanted to, in fact. Dance with you."

Kyoko felt the beginnings of a panic attack begin to take hold as she watched his hand lift towards her face. There was a sharp intake of breath as it stalled for a moment, and then his thumb was tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She was drowning in the depth of his gaze, and she could only watch as his expression became pained. "Kyoko …I-"

Whatever he was about to say dissolved in the bright lights of the oncoming car. As one, they turned to blink at the unwelcome intruder as it pulled to the side of the street just ahead of them. Kyoko furrowed her brow as a blond figure bolted from the back seat of the car and dashed across the street towards the entrance of the Daruyama. A very familiar blond figure.

"What the?" Kyoko was out the door in a flash. "Sho?!" she yelled as she shut the door to Ren's car.

Sho skittered to a halt and whipped around to face her. His hair was already plastered to his forehead as the rain continued to pelt down around them. He looked absolutely wretched, and for a moment, Kyoko felt a modicum of sympathy for him.

Until she remembered the particulars of their last encounter. She balled her hands into fists and grit her teeth, the memory of him stealing her first kiss surging angrily within her.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped icily once he had reached her.

"Kyoko," Sho said softly, bowing his head, and it was then that she could see something was very wrong. Ren got out of the car and walked over to stand at her side, and she sent him a dumbfounded look.

Sho spared Ren a glance, but he was apparently in no mood to engage, as he looked down at Kyoko imploringly. "Your phone went straight to voice mail, so I had Shoko pull your address from our agency file." He paused, and now Kyoko could see that the wetness on his face wasn't all due to the rain.

"Sho … what's happened?" she asked with an edge of concern.

Sho shook his head disbelievingly. "It's Dad." He blew out a breath, and then looked back at her. "He had a heart attack."

Kyoko gasped softly. "Is he … okay?"

Sho shook his head and opened his mouth. "I don't … he didn't … he's at the hospital. That's all I know." His voice broke, and then he was covering his face with his hands, shoulders heaving violently as he sobbed openly.

Something tugged in Kyoko, and she could feel the wall she had built up between them begin to crumble. In all of her years of knowing Sho, she had never seen him like this. The invisible fist around her heart unclenched, and she found herself putting her hand on his arm. He looked at her, eyes red and desperate. "Please, Kyoko. Please. Don't make me go back there alone."

His plea hung in the air between them, and Kyoko stared at the boy she had both loved and hated for so long with something akin to tenderness before making a decision. Slowly, she turned to Ren, who was staring at her hand on Sho's arm contemplatively. He met her gaze when he felt her eyes on him, and at length, he nodded in understanding.

When she felt the tenuous bond between them break, she almost shattered herself.

"You're going with him," he stated unnecessarily, and she nodded.

"I have to," she said quietly. "The Fuwas practically raised me. It wouldn't be right if I didn't go."

He smiled tartly. "But you're not going for them, are you?"

His words were like a punch to the gut, and she found she couldn't respond.

Ren looked up at the night sky, closed his eyes against the rain, and laughed bitterly.

She looked away, and braced herself for the inevitable backlash. After all, she had brought Ren into her sick little game of revenge. Had convinced him of her utter hatred for Sho. And here she was, running off to be with Sho the moment he needed her.

But, it's different, part of her whispered.

No, it's not, another part viciously whispered back.

"I know you must think that I'm a complete hypocrite," she began, but Ren waved a silencing hand at her.

When his gaze returned, it was devoid of the bitter emotions he had flashed earlier. What remained was an impassive civility, and her heart ached, empty as the eyes that stared back at her. "Mogami-san," he was saying, and she closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to spill over. "I have no business interfering in your personal affairs. I apologize." He turned to Sho, and nodded curtly at him. "I'm sorry to hear about your father. I hope everything turns out okay."

All Sho could manage was a nod of his own, as he distractedly wiped at his eyes.

"Oyasumi nasai," Ren whispered to her, almost as an afterthought, as he made his way back to his car.

Kyoko watched the Porsche until it disappeared around the corner, its red taillights blurring in the rain-soaked air. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she choked on it.

"Oyasumi," she echoed softly.

TBC …

A/N: So … yeah. I guess that was a long few days. My computer decided to eat itself for Christmas. I lost … everything. I knew there was a reason to continue writing long-hand instead of directly on the computer. Anyways, I tried to write this chapter from memory, but for whatever reason, it was much more slow-going this time around. So sorry for the wait!

A few questions:

Does anyone know if the Fuwas were ever given any first names? Also, how would Kyoko address the Fuwas? And, does anyone know exactly how long Kyoko lived with them?

Oh, and for those interested, the song Kyoko and Yashiro danced to was "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Bonnie Raitt. It's an oldie (well, relatively), but a goodie.

Thanks so much for reading! And Happy Holidays to everyone!

i The Japanese word "hachi" has many definitions, including "eight" and "bee."