STATING THE OBVIOUS: This is fanfiction.

Chapter Nine

"I wonder what Kyoko-chan is doing right now?" Yashiro asked rhetorically as he busied himself with unfurling a sheet of paper coloured the iconic LoveMe pink, and tapped the glittery title that stated it was 'Kyoko-chan's Timetable.' He and President Lory had made it together one afternoon, while Maria had expressed her disgust at the girliness of the paper, the glitter, and the sparkly, translucent sequins that her grandfather had chosen for the timetable, or, as they'd lovingly named it, 'Ren bait.' Sneaking a glance at Ren, he was disappointed to find that he was being completely ignored. The stupid man wasn't even looking at the incredibly eye-catching and, if he had to say so himself, very artfully created timetable. He tried again.

"Oh my, it seems like she's very close to us at the moment. In fact, we could even give her a ride home."

Ren didn't say a word as he indicated and then turned left, concentrating a little too hard on the road in front of him. His manager had seemed quite intent on provoking a reaction out of him when it came to Kyoko, and he wasn't about to rise to it. Besides, the evening before had clearly demonstrated that it was fine if he took things slow, especially with Kyoko. They were making progress, weren't they? They'd had dinner together, and she hadn't protested too greatly when he'd covertly threatened her into letting him pay for the meal. She'd chastised him for his lack of professionalism in regards to his health. He'd suggested that she cook for him more often, and she'd cheerfully agreed since they'd be living together. Living together. The idea should've been a blissful one, but the circumstances were less than desirable. Either way, anything too forward on his part would only frighten her away. He would rather spend the rest of his life chasing her than have her run away from him forever.

His manager, however, had not spent a little over two years trying to force the two of them together to give up at his charge's disheartening lack of response. No. Popular culture and shoujo manga dictated that through tenacity and opportunity, true love could blossom. He and the President intended to provide as much opportunity as they could muster for the loveless pair. Unfortunately, the kind of tenacity that Ren and Kyoko had was more of the 'tenaciously clinging onto being unhappy and loveless and lonely for the rest of their lives' variety.

"So, did you enjoy dinner with Kyoko-chan last night?"

No response.

"It was very lucky for us to have bumped into her like that."

Still no response.

"But it was so scary when she came at us from out of nowhere!"

Did he detect a slight tightening of his knuckles around the steering wheel?

"I hate to think that she could be out there after she's finished her work, in the dark, cycling like that. It's getting darker so much earlier nowadays. And her job doesn't finish for another hour. She'll be alone, in the dark..."

Yashiro snuck a peek at Ren and grinned to himself, triumphant. The idiot-in-love had a decidedly grim expression on his face as he put together the idea of Kyoko in the dark, alone.

"Yashiro-san, your concern about Mogami-san is truly unrivalled," Ren finally said, sighing heavily. "If you really insist upon it, I suppose we can drop by wherever she is now to pick her up. I wouldn't want you to worry about her. Where is she right now?"

"TBM Studios. See? So close to us. It would really be very inconsiderate to let her go home by herself." Despite his success, Yashiro repressed the overwhelming urge to hit his head against something. No wonder Kyoko was always beating herself up about things around him. Ren certainly seemed to provoke that response in people. Self-harm, that is. How can he be so thick? Forget getting them together...the first step is to get him to admit that he's actually completely in love with Kyoko-chan. Slipping on a pair of gloves, he quickly pulled out his phone, and thumbed a message to the President to remind him of this minor hurdle.

Ren glanced over at him as they stopped at a red light, suspicious of his technology-destroying manager suddenly texting as often as a high school girl, but refrained from asking as he turned into the driveway leading to the car park of TBM Studios.

"What exactly is Mogami-san's job here?" Ren asked as they both exited the car.

"Well, that's a very interesting question..."

/

"Great work today, Kyoko-chan!"

"Thanks Hikaru-san. You too!" Kyoko pushed her Bo costume into the store room, and locked it behind her, brushing off her skirt as she did so. She was looking forward to getting back to the apartment and having a proper shower. The show always left her feeling happily exhausted, but sweaty. Not even changing back into her street clothes could help that.

"Where are you headed after this?" he asked as they walked down the corridor together.

"I'm currently filming a drama, so I'll be heading back to the filming location tonight," she responded. She still didn't consider it home; just a place she had to be. A training camp, if she was being absolutely honest. The way Kyoko saw it, the whole situation was made so that they, as professional actors, could work to the best of their abilities to create realistic personalities for their characters.

"Really? This late? Will you be alright with getting there yourself? How far is it?"

"Not very far," Kyoko said, laughing, as she waved a hand dismissively. "I'll be fine getting there myself."

"Oh," Hikaru said, looking sheepish and a little disappointed. "Well, if you wanted a ride..."

"There's no need to trouble yourself, Hikaru-san. I've got my bike."

"You could always join me – I mean, us, for dinner tonight, and we could drop you off. It'd be no trouble at all, Kyoko-chan."

"No way, you guys always eat such unhealthy food! I've still got to eat properly for Natsu," Kyoko said indignantly, shaking her head at the Ishibashi brothers' bad eating habits.

"I'll tell you what," Hikaru said, with a rare and sudden stroke of genius - which is not to say the lad was stupid, but honestly, being around Kyoko seemed to stun everyone momentarily – "How about you come with us and make sure we eat healthy food?"

Kyoko considered this, then nodded her assent. "That's a good idea, I haven't had dinner yet and I guess I could study later as long as I get home early enough," she said cheerfully, "But you guys really have to eat more healthily, or else all your arteries will be choked up by the time you're thirty, and your heart will need to work harder and harder to deliver blood to the rest of your body, and then over time you won't be able to work as much because your heart will always be so tired and so you'll be tired too and it'll affect EVERYTHING and it's just absolutely disastrous. And finally your heart will be so tired and fed up that it'll just stop on you and then you'll die!"

Hikaru just nodded good-naturedly during her enthusiastic, arm-waving rant, complete with the mandatory dramatic gesticulations, happy that he'd convinced the young girl to finally accept a dinner invitation.

/

Ren leaned his head against the wall of the dim hallway in which he was standing. He wanted to sink to the ground in a grumpy stupor, but it wouldn't do for Tsuruga Ren to be found slouched in a dark corridor at TBM Studios. He had no business being there, and now that Kyoko clearly had a ride, he wasn't sure what to do with himself. His mind ticked over furiously as he tried to analyse what he'd just observed. The love of his life, walking and talking and laughing with another man, who he'd recognised as Ishibashi Hikaru, one of the hosts of the variety show Kimagure Rock. He'd appeared on the show a couple of times, as they were with LME as well, and had never heard anything negative about the short-statured musician - a rare occurrence for people like them.

How foolish he had been, to assume that Kyoko only got carried away when it came to his health. Naturally she'd extend the same amount of care and consideration to others. And how foolish he'd been to think that no one would step in first. He could count on her hatred of Fuwa, and Fuwa's childishness, to keep the two separate, but what could he do about it if another man joined the competition for her heart? She had seemed so easy around Ishibashi Hikaru, so unlike when she was around him, except for when she was telling him off. They referred to each other by their given names so naturally, and the Kimagure Rock host had seemed quite tolerant of Kyoko's somewhat strange, if not adorable idiosyncrasies. Kyoko may have been blithely oblivious of Hikaru's feelings for her, but to Ren, they were perfectly clear. The thought was not comforting to him in any way.

Then there was the issue of why Kyoko was there in the first place. Why hadn't she told him about this job? Was she working with Kimagure Rock? Or was there something else on at the same time at TBM Studios? It was a large place, after all, and she might have been filming for another show here. Was it a regular job? Did they meet like this every week? How long had this been going on? Questions rattled around in his mind, and his agitated introspection only served to evoke a kind of desperate, painful anguish inside of him as he realised how intolerably directionless his relationship was with Kyoko. If he confessed to her, he risked scaring her away for life. If he didn't say anything, someone else with more balls than him would come along and take her away forever.

Ren sighed, and pushed himself away from the wall which had been his steadfast supporter throughout his self-torturous deliberation. Looking around the empty hallway, it suddenly occurred to him that this was close to the place where he'd bumped into the very helpful chicken. Resolving to find his fowl friend for some much-needed advice, he set off down the hallway.

/

I wanted to update before I left for New Zealand, so I hope you all enjoyed it, and that you have a good long weekend/Easter holiday/whatever you've got in your country. Now I'm off to get some much needed sleep, because I have to get up early to catch a plane tomorrow. Thanks for your reviews, alerts and favourites; they make me happy. ^-^

- Interficere