Chapter Eight

Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief as she walked onto the set of the Box-R shoot. Finally, something familiar after all the tumultuous events of the day. At least the recording session had gone well. She'd enjoyed using her acting skills to convey the same amount of emotion through her voice, and marvelled at her character could translate so well in a recording.

Today, they were going to be filming a few conversations between the girls at a bowling alley, where Natsu had taken her latest toy. She didn't have many scenes to film, since Natsu would not feature too prominently in the upcoming episode.

Although she loved her work, she was also eager to get to school after the shoot. After Dark Moon had finished, she'd had a lull between the end of that show, and the start of the new one that she had just accepted, so she had been able to keep on top of her school work. Now, it looked as if she'd fall behind again. At age 18, she was really looking forward to graduating, but there were still a few assessment tasks that she had yet to complete. Still, at this rate, she'd settle on graduating a little later than everyone else.

"Nacchan, on set in five minutes!" Kyoko turned and nodded at the assistant director in acknowledgement, then quickly rearranged her mindset as she allowed the character of Natsu to take over her once more.

/

The twang of frustrated guitar strings and the incessant scribble of pen on paper alerted Shouko Ai to the whereabouts of her agitated charge. Stalking up to the door, disgruntled, she flung it open, and tapped her foot against the tiles, not bothering to hide her impatience. Sho lay sprawled under the coffee table, his guitar fitting awkwardly under the low tabletop.

"Look, Sho, you can't just do that. I told you to wait for me at the recording studio, and when I come back to find you, you're gone. You didn't answer your phone when I called. The technicians told me that you'd left after a confrontation with Tsuruga Ren, of all people. Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Sho ignored her, still busy scrawling notes on the stave. She didn't bother asking again, and instead walked up to him and stepped over the glass table, glaring down at him as she tore the pages lying next to him off the ground.

"Sho! Listen to me. We had that studio booked for you until seven tonight. You don't have a time slot that large until next week, and that pushes your whole schedule off again. The least you could do is explain to me," she said. Her face softened. "Was Kyoko-san there too?" Although Shoko didn't doubt that Tsuruga Ren alone could annoy Sho, her charge's childhood friend often seemed to make things worse.

Growling, he slid out from beneath the table and took the pages back from her. "She was there with him. She belongs to me, damn it. What's he doing, going around everywhere with her? And it wasn't a confrontation! I didn't do anything. Just pissed him off a bit. Always pretending he doesn't care about anything. What an idiot."

"Kyoko-san is her own person. You have to stop picking fights with her." In truth, the manager both pitied and liked Kyoko, and did not appreciate Sho's treatment of the girl.

"I'll pick fights with whomever I damn well like," Sho retorted, sticking his chin up petulantly. Shoko just sighed.

/

Finished! Kyoko hummed happily to herself as she cycled home, her bag loaded with homework. She planned to help out at the Daruma-ya for a few hours, before retiring early to study for the Chemistry test next week. Tomorrow, they were filming the next episode of House of –

Kyoko skidded to a stop and narrowly avoided a collision with a sleek Porsche, which swerved to one side to avoid her. She didn't notice, however, as she clapped a hand against her forehead. The foot that had rested on the pedal now dropped to the pavement in a subconscious attempt to keep from toppling over. She'd completely forgotten! She wasn't living at the restaurant anymore. Even thinking about cycling all the way to her temporary home made her feel exhausted. She could call a taxi, but...

"Mogami-san? Is something wrong? You almost cycled straight into my car," Ren said worriedly, waving a hand in front of her face. In truth, it had been the most terrifying moment of his day, and it didn't help that Yashiro had been screeching things like 'WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE' and 'I CAN'T LOOK REN, TAKE CARE OF KYOKO' and 'YOU HAVEN'T EVEN CONFESSED TO HER YET AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF EACH OTHER, LITERALLY' and 'OH GOD REN TURN THE WHEEL THE OTHER WAY, YOU'RE GOING TOO FAR~!'

"Huh? Tsuruga-san? Oh, was that car yours?" She eyed him blankly, as if she hadn't quite caught onto what had happened. Ren sighed. Actually, she probably never would. I guess someone who thought she could beat a taxi stuck in traffic on a bicycle and still get me to work on time would never consider that she might be in a traffic collision if she keeps up this reckless cycling.

"Yes, Mogami-san. You almost crashed into us," he reiterated. "That was very dangerous." Great, now he felt like he was lecturing her. Not that it seemed to be anything new for him.

Immediately chastened, she dropped her bike as she bowed low. "I'm very sorry for endangering you, Tsuruga-san! I just forgot that I wasn't going to the Daruma-ya tonight, so I got a little distracted."

This girl...he sighed. "You do realise that you would be the one in danger, right? Yashiro-san and I were in a car, after all. You don't even wear a helmet."

"Tsuruga-san, not many people wear helmets," she pointed out. "Besides, I've never been in an accident."

"But you might. And we would all be very worried about you if you were injured. We might even forget to eat because we'd be so very worried," he said. He had intended to provoke a reaction by mentioning eating. She skipped right over that, and asked him the only question that completely reversed their roles – he became the chagrined (or somewhat disgruntled) figure, and she became this unrelenting, motherly demon who would probably funnel food down his throat if he didn't find it so easy to give into her.

"Tsuruga-san, have you eaten?"

"...I was going to grab dinner with Yashiro-san before heading back to the apartment," he lied.

"Eh? Yashiro-san is here too?"

"Of course," Ren replied, raising an eyebrow. "We all live together now, remember?"

"Oh, of course! How silly of me to forget that as well." Kyoko laughed shakily, and blushed as her own stomach grumbled. She hadn't eaten since she'd all but devoured a bento box after the Box-R shoot, since she'd had to rush to school.

"Get in the car," Ren said, smiling. "You can make sure I eat." And I can make sure I get to spend some time with her without her best friend glaring at me like I ate her first-born child and that overactive limpet hanging off her. Or me.

He took her bike for her, and they made their way over to the car, which had been parked haphazardly, with the door on the driver's side still open. The car was empty.

"So where did Yashiro-san go?" Kyoko examined the interior of Ren's car curiously, trying to figure out where the manager had disappeared to. Beside her, Ren heaved another sigh, and ran a hand through his hair. He'd been doing that a lot today. Kyoko looked up at him, and suppressed a giggle.

"What?"

"Tsuruga-san, your hair is sticking up everywhere now," she said, a huge smile on her face. The dumbfounded look on his face triggered fond memories of Cain at his more human moments. She reached up and combed through the stray strands with her hand, patting them down into place. For some reason unknown to her, her senpai blushed. "At least it's not as bad as that time when Cain slept with wet hair."

"That was...Cain is supposed to have messy hair."

"Tsuruga-san, it's a fine line. A very fine line," she said, mock-seriously, waggling a finger at him. "And anyhow, we should go find Yashiro-san and then get some dinner."

"I have a feeling Yashiro-san wanted to leave us alone," Ren said, unsure whether he wanted to thank or curse his manager for leaving her alone with him.

"Okay!" Kyoko said brightly, not questioning it. She opened the door and stepped in, leaving Ren still standing there. Did she just voluntarily touch me? As Kyoko, not Setsu?

He smiled to himself.

In that case, I guess I have to thank you, Yashiro.

/

Apparently, people in Japan don't often wear helmets. Geesh, I'm Googling the weirdest things for this fanfic. 'Do Japanese people have roommates?' 'Do Japanese people wear bicycle helmets?' In Australia, we certainly do, and I thought since Ren's from the US he'd be all into helmets. Wait, do Americans wear helmets?

Also, if anyone's watched Sucker Punch, or even if you haven't, does anyone think Rocket looks a lot like Kyoko might? I think it's the hair. Google 'Rocket Sucker Punch' or something, and look for a photo that's just her head and shoulders against a red wallpapered background. The movie's awesome by the way – watch it. :D

- Interficere