The next few weeks until he left were quiet for Koga Hiromune. Filming for Lotus in the Mire wrapped, he did some press, a few modeling gigs, and then he had been put on a plane. Kanae had come with him to the airport to drop him off. After he had gotten perhaps a little too sentimental with her, she had rolled her eyes at him. "I'm going to see you in a month. Stop being such a baby."

As he walked into the training room in LA, his thoughts were with her. She's a ball buster, but she's my ball buster, he thought, sadly. He stretched as he entered the room and looked around at the fitness machines and prop weapons against the wall.

"Nice of you to join us, Hiromune-san."

Koga smirked. "Tsuruga. It's been a while."

As he got closer, Koga noted the smile that Ren was wearing. Oh, he's pissed. That's interesting. "Is something wrong, Tsuruga-san?"

"Do you know what time it is, Hiromune-san?"

"Uh…" Koga checked his watch, "10:30."

"You were supposed to be here at 10:00."

Koga bowed his head. "I had a long flight, and I was tired. I apologize if I've inconvenienced you." He noted the waves of anger radiating off of the man in front of him, which seemed to be disproportionate to his offense. Especially since we're friends… kind of, Koga thought.

"I just find it to be extremely unprofessional, Hiromune-san, especially from an actor of your caliber. Please see that you aren't late going forward."

Koga narrowed his eyes on Ren. "I don't recall you being such a crotchety, grumpy fuck in Japan, Tsuruga. You got a problem with me?"

Yashiro appeared as if from nowhere between the two men. "Ren, maybe you should go do another set of shoulder presses? I need a word with Hiromune-san." Ren's jaw clenched, but he did as Yashiro asked. Yashiro sighed and took Koga to the side.

"I'm terribly sorry about him, Hiromune-san. He hasn't been able to speak to Kyoko-chan in three days."

Koga looked over at Ren's retreating back and shook his head. "That's all it takes for him to be a total pompous asshole?"

Yashiro pushed his glasses up his nose with a frown. "In a manner of speaking, yes." It had actually taken the last eight weeks of not being with her, spotty opportunities to speak with her, and one ill-timed recording of Yappa Kimagure Rock that involved Koga Hiromune himself. Yashiro had watched it with Ren over dinner, and had watched his charge's eyes grow darker and darker as the episode progressed. Being separated from one's girlfriend was hard enough, but knowing that there was a man who had feelings for her working directly with her was even worse. Yashiro had been looking forward to Koga Hiromune's presence on set until that moment. Now he was scared that it would just trigger bad memories.

Koga pulled out his cell phone.

"What are you doing?," asked Yashiro politely.

"Fixing Ren's fucking attitude." The phone rang four times.

"Koga-san, are you okay!?"

Yashiro's mouth dropped open when he heard the voice on the other end of the phone. Koga had just called Kyoko at 3:30 AM Tokyo time.

"Yeah, Kyoko-chan, I'm fine. But your boyfriend is being an asshole."

At the mention of Kyoko's name, Ren stopped in the middle of his press.

"I… Ren's being mean?" It took Kyoko a moment to realize that Koga was in the US.

"Yeah, he's moody as hell and being a perfectionist, and he's driving me nuts. Straighten him out for me, will ya?" Koga had crossed the room and thrust his phone out at Ren, who looked like a kicked puppy. He took the phone and put it gently to his ear.

"Kyoko-chan."

"Tsuruga-san. May I speak with Kuon for a moment?"

Kuon winced and looked down at his feet, dropping the Ren mask. "You've got him, Princess."

Kyoko rubbed her eyes. Koga had woken her out of a fitful sleep. "Are you being grumpy because we haven't talked?"

"...Yes."

"You know you can't take that out on other people, right?," she said gently.

"Yes. I'm sorry. I just… three days is so long to not hear your voice, and two months is a long time to not hold you. I'm having a hard time." He wasn't even going to touch the Ishibashi issue. That would only upset her.

She smiled at her lap. "It's hard for me, too, Kuon. But we have to keep moving and be kind." She looked at the time on her phone. "Will you have time before work tomorrow so we can talk more?"

"I'll call you at 5:00 when I wake up."

"I'm looking forward to it, Corn. I have to try to get back to sleep. Please try to be nicer to Koga."

"I will, Kyoko-chan. I love you."

"I love you, too."

They hung up, and Kuon crossed the room to Koga, who had walked away to give him space. He gave him his phone back and bowed.

"Koga, I'm sorry for being a dick."

Koga smirked and pocketed the phone. "Apology accepted. I've been away from my girl for a whole 18 hours already, and it sucks. I can only imagine how it's been for you and Kyoko-chan."

Kuon sighed and nodded. "It's hell."

Hell was an understatement, but it was the best comparison he had. They got to working out in peace.

A few hours later in Tokyo, Kyoko was arriving at LME to start her day. She was headed down the hallway to the LoveMe Room when all hell broke loose.

"AHH! GET OUT! OUT!"

Sho Fuwa stumbled out of the LoveMe room, red-faced and slammed the door shut behind him. Kyoko raced over to him.

"What just happened!?"

"I-I didn't know anyone changed in there!"

The door opened and a red-faced Chiori Amamiya appeared. She slapped Sho full on in the face. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, PERVERT?"

He stumbled back, grabbing his face. "WHAT!? I WASN'T TRYING TO SNEAK A PEEK AT YOU, FIVE-HEAD! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE ANYTHING I WANT TO SEE!"

Chiori made to rush him, and Kyoko grabbed her around the waist to hold her back. "Whoa! Calm down, Chiorin!"

"THIS GUY JUST WALKED INTO OUR ROOM!"

"He's in the LoveMe Section, Chiori-chan!"

Chiori stopped struggling. "What!?"

Kyoko released her. "He's in the LoveMe Section, too! You haven't been around in a while, so you haven't been introduced. Chiori Amamiya, this is Sho Fuwa."

Chiori blinked and then looked at Sho's face and went bright pink. She was actually a fan of Sho's, but hadn't recognized him because of his darkened hair. "I-it's nice to meet you, Fuwa-san."

He rubbed his stinging cheek. "I'm not sure the feeling is mutual," he muttered. He looked over Chiori's shoulder to see Kyoko giving him a death glare, and he recanted his statement. "Nice to meet you, Amamiya-san. I'm sorry I walked in on you."

Chiori blushed. "I'm sorry I hit you!"

Kyoko had a feeling that Sho may still appear in Chiori's burn book later for the five-head comment, but at least they were acting civilly toward each other for the moment.

"What the hell is all the yelling about?"

They all looked down the hall to see Kanae coming toward them.

"Sho just walked in on Chiorin changing on accident."

Kanae stopped in front of them and sighed. "MO. Chiori-chan, why didn't you lock the door!?"

Chiori turned bright red. "Well, if somebody had told me there was a new, male member of the LoveMe Section, maybe I would have!"

Kanae shook her head. "This is a public building, you should just lock the door anyway." She rolled her eyes and pushed past them to get into the room. "Lock it next time."

Sho stared at the door as it closed. "She didn't blame me for this? Is she feeling okay?"

Kyoko giggled, but she had seen the bags under Kanae's eyes and knew, per her 3:30 AM wakeup call, that Koga was in the US. She knew that Kanae needed some alone time.

Chiori bowed to them. "Please excuse me, I need to go to my LoveMe job. Maybe I'll see you both later." She turned and walked away down the hall, leaving Kyoko and Sho alone.

"Do you have a job today?," asked Kyoko.

Sho shook his head. "I saw that my mail box was empty before Five-Head threw her backpack at my head."

Kyoko rolled her eyes. "Do you want to help me out at LA Hearts?"

"Sure. I got nothin' else to do."

They set off in the direction of LA Hearts. "You know, it's impolite to call her Five-Head."

Sho pointed at the red handprint on the side of his face. "It's also impo-fucking-lite to slap someone in the face, so I think I've earned the right."

When they made it to the cafe, Sho went to get the mop from the supply closet. Kyoko looked around at the tables, trying to discern how much cleaning they were going to have to do, when her eyes fell on an older man with his head down on the table. She approached him timidly.

"Uh… Ojii-san, are you okay?" He looked up at her, and she gasped. "Director Nakamura!?"

He smiled a small smile at her. It did not reach his eyes. "Kyoko-chan. A lovely surprise. How are you?"

She sat down in the chair across from him. "I'm fine, but Director, you look like you're very upset. Is there anything I can help you with?"

He sighed and slumped in his chair. "My friend, who was composing the music for our film, has died."

Kyoko put her hand over his on the table. "I am so sorry to hear that, Director-san."

He smiled. "These things happen. We aren't spring chickens anymore, and illness can take us quickly. It's just put me into a bit of a panic, because now I have no one to score our film." He sighed. "I'll find someone, Kyoko-chan. There are plenty of brilliant musicians in our world."

As if on cue, Sho appeared with his mop and bucket. "All right, Kyoko. I got the stuff."

The Director narrowed his eyes on him. "...Aren't you the guy Ren saved on set?"

Sho swallowed and bowed. "Uh… yeah. That's me. I'm sorry for ruining your shot."

Kyoko gestured at Sho. "This is Sho Fuwa. Sho, this is Director Nakamura."

The Director's eyebrows shot up. "Sho Fuwa? As in… the singer?"

Sho nodded. "Yes, sir. Though my singing days are probably over."

"Do you write music, boy?"

Sho raised an eyebrow. "Of course I do."

"Could you do traditional style?"

Kyoko's mouth popped open. "Director-san, you don't think Sho could…?"

Director Nakamura chuckled. "Kyoko-chan, I find it rather serendipitous that we were just discussing scoring my film, and fate seems to have dropped a talented musician into my lap." He turned back to Sho. "So, how about it, kid? You want to finish scoring my movie?"

Sho's eyes bugged out. "No offense, sir, but I've never scored a movie before. Wouldn't you prefer to get someone else?"

The Director pulled his business card out of his jacket and passed it to Sho. "If you do a shit job of it, then I'll be no worse off than I am right now." He winked. "Give me a call later, and we'll set something up." He bowed to Kyoko. "It was so good to see you again, Kyoko-chan!"

She got to her feet and bowed. "Yes, sir! Always a pleasure!"

He walked away and Sho stared after him. "Is that guy off his rocker or what!? He doesn't even know me!"

Kyoko chuckled nervously. "Well… I guess it's like he said. If you mess it up, then he'll just have to find someone else."

After finishing up cleaning the dining area, Sho left to start his shift at the Darumaya. Kyoko went back to the LoveMe room. She found Kanae sitting on the pink couch poring over her Japanese to English workbook. "How's it going?"

Kanae didn't look up from the book. "It sucks." She glared down at the page. "I'm tired, my head hurts, and I'm worried." She sighed and looked up at Kyoko. "I'm never going to be able to do this. I should just go talk to Producer Kuresaki and bow out."

Kyoko shook her head and sat down on the couch next to her friend. "No. You're not allowed to give up." She took her hands. "You're going to get this down, you're going to do amazing, and when you come back to Japan, your face is going to be everywhere, every director will want you, and all this hard work will be just a memory."

Kanae took a deep breath. "You really believe that?"

Kyoko smiled and nudged the book. "Let's get back to work, Moko-san. You leave in a month."

Later that night, Kyoko burst into her apartment. She had lost track of time helping Kanae, and she still had to eat dinner and take a shower before she could talk to Kuon. She reheated her leftovers from the night before and wolfed them down, and then went to take her shower. As she cleaned up, she got more and more excited. The five minutes that they had talked earlier in the day had not made up for the three days of silence. They had texted each other, certainly, but it was nothing like hearing his voice.

She had noticed over the last few weeks that he seemed off, but she hadn't been sure that something was actually wrong, aside from just missing her. She hoped she was just being paranoid, but after his interaction with Koga, she knew that it was definitely more than that. She was going to ask him tonight while he was, hopefully, in a good mood.

She got out of the shower and dressed in her pajamas. When her phone rang, she was sitting on the bed, propped up against her pillows. She smiled when she saw it was a video call.

"Good evening, Princess." His sleepy, heartbroken half-smile almost took her breath away.

"Good morning, Corn. Did you sleep well?"

He sat up in his bed and rubbed his eye. "Not really. But I suppose that's payback for Koga waking you up. If you didn't sleep well, then I shouldn't either."

She smiled. "I'm glad Koga called. Are you still upset about Hikaru-san?"

Kuon smiled his fake smile. "Who?"

"Kuon."

He sighed. "Is it that obvious?"

Kyoko giggled. "I knew something was bothering you all this time, but I thought it was just you missing me."

Kuon gritted his teeth. "That's why it's bothering me so badly. I miss you so much, Kyoko-chan. I miss you, and I can't be there for you, and Hikaru Ishibashi can be. That's why this is so goddamned frustrating."

Kyoko caressed the screen with her thumb. "Kuon, Hikaru-san and I are just friends. He hasn't mentioned anything about all of that stuff since. He's even stopped inviting me out after the show, not that I ever went anyway. He's been very respectful of us."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm thousands of miles away from you. Kyoko-chan, all I want right now is to fly back to you, crawl into bed, and stay there for a week."

Kyoko blushed. "You want to stay in bed for a week? With me?"

He back-pedaled. "N-not like that. I just want to hold you."

"I wouldn't be too upset if you wanted to do something else…" Kuon froze. Kyoko cleared her throat. "When is Yashiro coming for you?"

"40 minutes. What do you mean you wouldn't be upset if we did something else?" He was not going to let her just change the subject.

She looked away from the screen, embarrassed. Even though she had been anticipating The Emperor, he still took her by surprise. "I…" she searched for a way to communicate her needs to him without sounding like a tramp. "I would like some cake," she squeaked.

He raised an eyebrow, not understanding at first, and then he remembered their conversation in his apartment on their last night together and his eyes shot wide open. "Oh."

"I-I'm sorry! Please forget I said anything!," she panicked.

"Kyoko-chan," he said softly, "Look at me." Kyoko peeked through her fingers at Kuon. "It's okay. I want that, too."

"I know we've talked about it before," she said quietly, "But… I think I'm really ready, and I don't want to wait anymore."

Kuon was feeling quite warm. Hearing her admit such a thing, when they had no idea when the next time they would see each other would be, was frustrating as hell. But, he thought of her age and was thankful for the ocean between them. He knew that the next time he saw her, there would be no holding back.

"I'm scared that I'll disappoint you, though. Since I haven't had se- cake before," she corrected, her cheeks flaming.

"Oh, Princess, it will be an honor to instruct you on the proper consumption of cake," he growled.

Kyoko's body heated at the timbre of his voice, and she covered her mouth, scandalized and excited by what he had said.

The Emperor continued on, his voice a low rumble. "There is nothing I want more in this world than to run my fingertips over every inch of your body." He saw how her eyes hooded with lust and continued. "Actually, no. The desire to run my tongue over your body and taste you is greater."

"Kuon!," she whined behind her hand. He smirked at her crimson cheeks that were peeking over it.

"You don't approve? Maybe my fingertips and my tongue aren't what you're after."

Kyoko's mouth went dry as the screen was suddenly full of the front of Kuon's boxer briefs. He ran his fingertips over the huge bulge in his lap, and a shiver ran up Kyoko's spine.

"I-it's big. W-will it fit?" she stammered.

Her innocent question was enough to kill any composure he might have had left. She heard him groan and then his face reappeared on the screen. "Do you want it to fit, Kyoko?" his voice was smooth like molten hot chocolate.

The thought of him entering her made her dizzy. "Yes."

"Then I'll make it fit. I'll try every position until the pleasure is unbearable and all you can do is scream my name."

"Nn… Kuon."

"May I see? Please, Princess, let me see."

Kyoko hesitated for a moment and then, to Kuon's great shock and pleasure, angled the phone down so that he could see her hand working feverishly underneath her pajama bottoms.

He brought his cock through the hole in the front of his briefs and stroked himself as he watched. He moved his hand in tandem with the gentle rock of her hips as she swirled her fingers around her tiny bud. Her movements became more hectic after a few moments, the image on the screen more shaky. When she cried out, he thrust hard into his hand and spilled his seed onto a tissue. He sat there for a moment, catching his breath, and then looked down at his phone. Kyoko's face was there, her bangs sticking to her forehead and her cheeks bright pink.

"Thank you, Princess," he said quietly. "I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable."

She shook her head. "No! I'm f-fine! I just… well… you know."

"Please don't be embarrassed. I love it when you share private things with me. I love your body, and the sounds you make–"

She covered her whole beet red face with her hand. "O-okay, I get it! You don't need to explain!"

He chuckled. "I'm sorry, Princess. I just want you to know how beautiful you are. Always."

"So," she hesitated, "Are you still mad about Hikaru?"

Kuon smiled. A real smile. "No." His smile turned into a smirk. "Unless you're planning to show him what you just showed me."

"KUON!"

He laughed, and she glared at him. When he composed himself, he checked the time on his phone. "Ah. I should make breakfast. Would you like to watch?"

Kyoko yawned. "Actually, I'm very tired."

I bet you are, he thought with a grin. "Sleep well, Princess. I'll text you later."

"Thank you, Corn. Have a good day. I love you."

"I love you, too. Goodnight."

They hung up, and he flopped back against his pillows, beaming. For the first time in weeks, he felt like he might actually have a good day.

Hello everyone! Something to clear up from last week: it is my understanding that Kimiko Morizumi is banned from acting in Japan, not the States. So, that's how I'm writing the story. It's been written, I'm not changing it, and I'm not going to argue with anyone about it. This goes double for anything else I decide to put in this story. It's free entertainment, if you don't agree with it, there are a million other fics you can read. Enjoy those.

Anyway, I'll make this short because I got a mountain of Christmas cookies to bake. Buddy had surgery this week to remove three of his teeth. He's still not eating properly, still looped up on drugs, but I'm hopeful that he'll be okay soon.

I hope you all have a lovely Holiday, no matter what holiday you're celebrating (even if you don't celebrate anything, that's cool too) and I'll catch you next Friday! ALL OF MY LURVE - BO