Obligatory Disclaimer: Fanfiction.

Chapter Ten

Ishibashi Hikaru had experienced much rejection in his life. Admittedly, he may not have been rejected as crushingly as Kyoko had been, both by her mother and Fuwa Sho, but he had certainly been rejected many more times. Coincidentally, it was Kyoko who had been doing most of the rejecting. One rejection – or rather two – that he did not resent, however, was the immediate refusal Yuusei and Shin'ichi gave him when he asked them somewhat begrudgingly where they wanted to go for dinner, more out of obligation than of true desire to share a meal with his band members.

Oh, he definitely didn't resent that.

"So you said you were heading to a filming location after this? Is this for Box-R, or something else?" Hikaru screwed up his face as Kyoko refilled his bowl with vegetables and tofu. He'd convinced her to eat nabe with him, hoping that they'd be sharing a meal from the same pot. Kyoko had agreed, on the condition that she chose what ingredients went in the pot. So far, she'd refrained from adding too much meat, claiming that it'd make the broth too oily, reverting back to her original argument about clogged arteries.

"Here, eat all of the vegetables, Hikaru-san," she said, satisfied with her selection, and placed the bowl back in front of him. He looked at it mournfully, and blinked up at her endearingly. She scowled and whacked his arm playfully. "Go on, it's good for you! And no, it's not for Box-R. It's actually for a new drama that I'm in. I get to act alongside Moko-san! I get to live with her as well. Actually, all the leads of the drama are living on location at the moment. It's an idea of the President's," she added, as way of explanation.

Hikaru smiled at the sparkly-eyed girl sitting opposite him. He often saw that expression on her face whenever she mentioned her beloved best friend. "Who are the other leads? Sounds like Kotonami-san is one too, is that right?"

"Yes, she plays my roommate. Watabe Mitsunari and Tsuruga Ren are starring in it too. They live just next door to us in the drama," she said happily. "It's really wonderful to work with such talented actors, especially when I'm just a newbie in the industry."

To Hikaru's surprise, Kyoko's expression changed to one of tenderness, and there was something almost loving in her eyes, if he dared to identify it as such an emotion. If he had to guess, he'd honestly have to admit to himself that Tsuruga Ren was probably the cause of that loving expression. While he'd heard of Watabe Mitsunari, he'd never heard Kyoko mention him before, whereas she seemed to bring up Tsuruga Ren quite often, raving on and on about the virtues of her senpai almost as often as she did about her best friend. If only Hikaru had known that at the time, the expression was more caused by the remnants of stubborn emotions left behind by Setsu, rather than any blossoming feelings of love and romance, he might not have felt so immediately discouraged.

Swallowing the rising lump in his throat, he fought to answer appropriately as Kyoko turned her attention from her food to look at him questioningly when he failed to respond.

"This is your second time working with Tsuruga-san, isn't it?" Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid! That's right, give her another opportunity to talk about him. Real intelligent. Why couldn't you ask something else?

"I'm really happy to finally co-star with Tsuruga-san, even though we play a romantic pair. Well, at least in the end we do. He's my senpai, and he's taken such good care of me. I've always looked up to him, and he's the goal I aspire to reach someday – he really inspires me to better myself every day." She ended her contemplative speech, a small but sweet smile lighting up her entire face as she leaned over to stir the broth and the ingredients in the pot with a pair of chopsticks.

"I hope you can achieve your goals, Kyoko-chan. I'll support you all the way," he said gently, and ducked his head to eat, and to avoid looking into those wistful amber eyes.

/

"Where's Kyoko-chan?" Yashiro peered behind the tall actor as Ren walked towards the car.

"She left," he said simply, refusing to provide any more information. Let him be infuriated, Ren thought bitterly as he opened the door to the driver's seat. After all, after hearing that Kyoko didn't share any information about this particular role with me, he saw fit to continue hiding it from me. Smug, interfering bastard.

"Ren! How could you make me wait for you this long in the lobby, and not even come back with Kyoko-chan? Honestly, it's like you don't appreciate all the effort I go to." Ren just rolled his eyes and got into the car, Yashiro following suit after stamping his foot against the ground in frustration.

"All the effort you go to do what, exactly, Yashiro-san?" Starting the ignition, he turned to Yashiro, and smiled at him. The manager's skin seemed to be attempting to crawl away from him and up the back of the seat. Returning his charge's gentlemanly smile with a weak one of his own, he quickly pulled out his schedule and occupied himself with not making eye contact for the rest of the journey back to the apartment. However, for once, despite his mood, Ren as the one to initiate conversation.

"Yashiro-san, I'd like you to look into something for me. Could you find out who plays the mascot for Kimagure Rock?" After a long search of the hallways and nooks and crannies of TBM Studios, he had failed to find his ever-helpful friend. He didn't really have anyone else to turn to, and since he had already confided in the chicken once, he figured it wouldn't do any harm to seek his advice once more.

"The chicken? Really? That chicken?" Yashiro almost burst out laughing at the whole situation. He'd heard a vague recount of how the chicken had once helped Ren, but now that he knew who the chicken was, thanks to the President's helpful timetable, it made it all the more hilarious.

"Yes." Ren glanced at him, concerned by his odd reaction. "Just a contact number would be good. I don't particularly want to know his name, to be honest. I think it'd be best if he remained anonymous to me. Just...I'd like to get in touch with him."

"Of course," Yashiro said, nodding and scheming. He pulled out his gloves, his phone, and got to work doing what he did best.

/

Thanks for all your reviews/alerts/favourites. I got back from NZ a couple of hours ago, and my body is telling me it's 11:42 PM right now instead of 9:42 PM, so I'm quite desperate for sleep. Anyhow, here's an update. Hope it makes the last chapter a little clearer as well.

- Interficere