Kyoko beat at his chest with her small fist, round tears falling from her thick black eyelashes. Ren looked down at her with bewildered eyes.

"Please, say it's not true Tsuruga-san. It can't be true!"

"What isn't true Mogami-san? I don't understand." He grabbed her wrists and held them still. Her tears didn't stop, and she writhed to get away from him, looking down at the floor.

"I know I'm only a kohai, but I thought we could have something special." He was struck by her intensity as she looked up at him. "Anyone but him! Please! Anyone but him!"

"Him? Who's him? Please explain…"

Deep barrow laughter erupted from behind, and Ren felt his figure being pulled away. He tried to grasp at her again, but he could only brush her wrists as she begun to sink back into the black background. Ren turned around and saw Sho, smiling at him with a twinkle in his eye. It was the same sort of smile Mizuki gave Katsuki during the touching scenes of Dark Moon. Ren reeled back, horrorstruck.

"It's okay Kuon-chan," Sho grabbed him by the waist and pulled him close."You can tell her…" Ren tried to push him away, but Sho had a stronger grip than he should have had. Ren whipped his head back, and watched Kyoko raise her hand to wipe tears away.

"Wait! Mogami-san?" She gave him one more saddened look, then started running into the blackness. He felt Sho snuggle into his back as he squirmed to get away.

"No! NO!"

"Kyoko!" Ren sat up in bed, his hand extended into the air. His breaths were quick and uneven, and his pajamas were drenched in perspiration. Arm dropping slowly, he used it to wipe away the sweat from the face.

Angry at his unconscious foolishness, he took his silken sheets and threw them to the other side of the large bed. Ren swung his long legs over the edge, sitting with his head hung between his legs. Turning to the side, he looked at the clock between his black locks. It glowed 5:03 in green LED lights. He knew that it was much too early to be waking up, but there was no way he was going to be able to fall back to sleep after that.

Ren stood up, and started unbuttoning his damp shirt. He thought about getting a good morning workout in, take a shower and maybe make some coffee. Mogami-san had bought a coffee percolator the last time she visited, and the caffeinated drink had tasted much better than the instant brands he had been using. He smiled as she showed him how to work it before leaving.

Remembering the dream, Ren sighed and dropped the shirt to the side of the bed. That smile on Fuwa's face made him shudder. It was going to be a long, trying day, he could already feel it. He made his way to the dojo to train, certain that a good long session would drive everything from his mind.

Standing in a pair of light blue jeans and a navy button down top, Ren stood next to the stove. He could smell the coffee being brewed, and he smiled to himself. He debated making a small bite of breakfast as well, but found all the food in the refrigerator either spoiled, or was past his expertise to make. He ran his fingers through his wet hair, before taking the handle and pouring himself a cup of fresh black coffee.

The doorbell buzzed, and Ren looked at his watch. It was only half past seven, much too early to have visitors. He wasn't even expected to pick up Yashiro-san until an hour from now. He took the steaming hot mug, and walked calmly to the door.

Only a few people knew where he lived. It was a very well kept secret; otherwise he'd be hounded by the press and his fans. It could only be a few welcoming faces... or the president. He frowned at the idea of it being Lory. He usually brought trouble.

"Hurry Tsuruga, hurry…" Yashiro's muffled voice floated through the door, impatient. Instead of looking through the peep hole, Ren unlocked the doors and opened it. His manager rushed in, and snapped the door behind him quickly.

"Yashiro-san…what is that?" Ren gave his visitor an inquisitive look, deviating from his original question. He was in his usual garb. His suit was gray and pressed. His shirt was crisp and white, and he had a stylish tie on as always. The strange thing was Yashiro's face. He had two bandanas on his head. One was under his eyes, covering his face, and the other was placed above his eyes, shielding the top of his head.

Seeing his questioning face, Yashiro stood to his full height, and pulled off the pieces of cloth.

"I didn't want to be seen coming here." Yashiro made his way to the sleek modern couch, and sat down. He sighed, and reached into his briefcase. Pulling out a handful of magazines, he spread the gossip magazines out on the table. All of the covers showed various pictures of Ren in some way or another, either in costume or on the red carpet. The titles were all bright shades of pink.

"Tsuruga Ren, celibate or celebrating men?"

"Japan's Top Man Seeking Men!"

"Sneak Peak, Tsuruga's Secret GAY Lover!"

Tsuruga face froze, and his eyes widened. Yashiro couldn't resist a chuckle, albeit a bit sarcastic, on his behalf.

"They're all like this Tsuruga-san. They all have "anonymous" accounts with your gay lovers, various fans expressing doubts, and pictures of you in your designer clothing. It's as you picked your clothes out yourself, rather than designers. You can't be surprised at the speed of the industry" He stopped, and sniffed the air. "…is that coffee I smell? I was up at 4:30 so I could catch the vans making their rounds. Mind if I have some?"

With Ren's nod, Yashiro stood up, and floated to the kitchen for a cup. Taking his place on the sofa, Ren sat down and started flipping through the magazines.

Like Yashiro said, the magazines were all full of him. There were various face photos, eyes censored, quoting that they saw him leave love hotels with other men. They doubted his good taste in clothing, his gentlemanly manners, even his hairstyle.

Shuffling through one of the drabble magazines, he found a fold out page that featured a photo that wasn't himself. Instead, there was a picture of an overweight teenager, with thick glasses, scarred acne skin, and a buzzed cut hair. Above the title, it read "Tsuruga's secret lover!" Tsuruga raised his eyebrows in surprise, and found himself picking up the magazine.

"Tsuruga Ren, a star among men, is usually seen alone

in the public eye. But what about the private eye?

We used our special resources to delve deep into

his private life and found out he's rarely seen without

one man. Yashiro Yukihito. We were able to procure

this picture of this particular man. Not much is known

about him yet. We wonder what sort of tastes Tsuruga Ren

prefers, but this photo shows that this actor is not

blinded to beauty alone…"

Wondering what caught his eye, Yashiro circled around the couch, to read over his shoulder. Spotting the image printed on the sheet, his mouth dropped and the cup fell out of his hand. Tsuruga jumped in shock as the glass shattered, as his manager grabbed the magazine and huddled in the corner.

"How did they get this? This is horrible!" He started crying, as the journal shook in his hand.

"Yashiro-san…was that really you?" Ren's eyes went from the pudgy, acne adolescent photo, to his fit, smooth-skinned manager.

Yashiro nodded his head, tearing up. "I know…I looked like an otaku… but this is worse than I thought! It's just like you said!" He sniffed, and pushed up his glasses by the bridge.

This time, Ren couldn't resist a chuckle, albeit a bit sarcastic, on his behalf. Yashiro glared.

"I got you on Bridge Rock tonight. It's a celebrity friendly show, so you can fight these rumors." He clenched the magazine in his fist, crumpling the sheet. "It's definitely going to be a long day."