I know what your friends say

"You're just wasting your love and time"

Sho lazily tapped his pencil against the dilapidated tabletop, looking at the scrawled print that was his own handwriting. Brainstorming lyrics was usually how he passed the time, which was useful because his stock of pre-composed music was running low. He had the ghost of a song stuck in his head, but those two lines were the only concrete lyrics he could pin down.

He sat tucked in the corner of a booth, wearing a Yankees baseball cap and an oversized hoodie. Thankfully the girl's sister's café was empty so he didn't have to deal with any crazy female fans, but if he didn't disguise himself, Kyoko would spot him immediately. He knew how observant she was. The mirror on the back wall was angled just right; he could see the door and booth behind him but the reflection wouldn't catch him. Constantly glancing up, Sho smiled expectantly as the time dragged on. He hadn't been so excited to see her since Valentine's Day, as sure of tonight's plans as he was on February 14th.

If only there was something to eat…

Strangely, he remembered how hungry he was on Valentine's Day too. It was easy to remember, because on that particular day, the taste of the Valentine's chocolate from Kyoko (Okay, the expensive chocolate from himself, to Kyoko, then back to himself.) had been the thing he desired the most. The only reason that could have been was because he was famished that day, as he was now. It had been so good that the singer even ordered another set for himself, despite his dislike of sweet things, but the taste of it was never quite as appetizing as it was the first time.

Hunger was the best spice, right?

He could feel his stomach growl, and he lightly winced as his abs reflexively tightened. No matter how hungry he was, he knew it was best to stay silent. The idea of asking for food from the crazy pink chick was as suicidal as trying to kiss her.

"What did you say?" The voice wasn't simply cold. It was sub-zero. It was vicious. It was the voice of impending death. She was the living Yuki Onna, the mythical snow queen. As beautiful as she was deadly.

He wasn't sure how she had teleported herself up the stairs so fast, but the echo of her voice drew him in, so dangerously silky that neither of the managers could bear to look at her. A magnet to anything involving Kyoko, Sho silently snuck up the stairs to watch the action between the bars. Kanae drew closer to Shoko, who begun to quiver in fear.

"Do you mean to tell me, that your charge bet that man that he could win my friend's heart, for the sake of his public image?"

Unable to do anything else, Shoko nodded quickly in confirmation.

Pivoting in fury, her eyes flickered into flames as she turned to the other manager. She was turning into a demon in front of his very eyes. Her hair began to rise, and she bared her sharpened nails at the matchmaking manager. Yashiro squealed like a teenage girl, and cowered into a corner.

"And you! You're simply letting your charge take advantage of her…? You didn't talk him out of it? You didn't think about how it'd look for her? How she'd feel? What a scandal could do to her new career?"

"bu-bu-bu-I-I-I-Re-Re-Re-lo-lo." Yashiro's tongue failed him, as he slid against the wall and onto the floor. Shoko's yelling had been off-putting, but this other girl towering over him was absolutely petrifying. If that two-bit actor was the demon king in LME, she would easily be the demon queen. Sho realized how lucky he was to get off easy.

"I will only say this once, Yashiro." She spit out his name like a curse." Stay. Away. From. Kyoko. Keep your charge away from Kyoko. Don't go near the LoveMe locker room. Don't call her. Don't look at her. If you do, I'm going straight to the President, and if he doesn't do anything, I'll bring you down myself."

Still stunned into silence, the group of three watched as the irate actress flick her phone open. She stepped out of the stairwell, and dialed a number furiously. After a quick and hushed conversation, punctuated by irate screaming, she returned to the stairwell.

"You!" She pointed at Shoko, who had finally had enough common sense to start escaping down the stairs. "You're coming with me!"

"I'm sorry?" Shoko asked, surprised. She had already caused more trouble than she had set out to do. She was ready to do the yelling, not to be yelled at.

"She'll never believe me. You're an outside party. You obviously think it's wrong too, right?" Kanae looked down at the female manager, daring her to disagree. Paused a few steps lower than the pink monster, his manager nodded, very reluctantly. "You're driving me to meet her."

"I-I don't think that's a good idea." Shoko said fervently, backing up a few more steps. "I'm sure if anyone were to be the one to tell her, it should come from her fri-."

A simple withering glare silenced the dissenting voice.

"If you don't go, I'll go to Entertainment Tokyo right now." The actress said, threatening. "I know their past." Who "they" were was quite clear to the manager. Sho watched his manager swallow. The very thing she had wanted to avoid all along was at the cusp of coming true.

Sho paused, thinking of the ramifications of the situation.

If the girl went to Kyoko, she would know that I bet that pretty boy that he could win Kyoko. Kyoko would be angry at me, sure. She'd continue to hate me, which would make me an even bigger presence in Kyoko's mind. That's exactly what I need! Not only that, Kyoko would begin to hate that pompous idiot as well. She wouldn't acknowledge him as her senpai anymore. He wouldn't be able to win Kyoko, ever. Then I'd never have to dream about her being taken by his playboy ways. It's a win-win!

Sho ran up the stairs, to meet with his manager. Both women's eyes widened, surprised at his sudden reappearance.

"I agree! Let's tell her!"

He hadn't even seen the swing coming. He doubled in half, and grabbed the landing for support.

Where did she learn to hit like that?

Although he was sure he wouldn't be able to do sit-ups for at least a week, it'd be worth it. It would be so worth it. He praised his own genius at the situation. If Kyoko knew that her precious senpai used her, she would hate him. Since she had only known the pathetic actor for a little over a year, Kyoko would simply strike him from her life. She couldn't do that with him. He had known Kyoko since she was six. Their connection was an impossible bond to break.

With the path clear, he would dominate her mind once again. That was all he wanted.

He smiled smugly and brought the pencil down to his pad. Another lyric popped up in his mind, and he knew it was genius the moment he read it back to himself.

I will never let you change your mind

The sound of splashing water started low at first, then began to rise in volume. It was the low woosh sound car tires make when zooming through a flood line several inches high.

Shoko watched in amazement as the glass doors of the café became distorted, a wave of cold rain water hitting it at a high velocity. Through the zigzags, she could see a bright red bike, and a small figure on top of it. The bike whipped around on its front tire, and skid right in front of the doors, letting out another whip of water crashing along the building. Shoko's heart hit against the bottom of her stomach, just as hard.

Rising from her seat, Kanae stood in the middle of the aisle, hands on her hips. Watching, and waiting.

Parking the bike beneath the restaurant's canopy, the automatic door slid open. A small bell jingled in the customary fashion.

"MOKO-SAN!"

Launching herself at her best friend, Kanae grabbed Kyoko's head and held the wet girl back at arms length. Kyoko flailed her arms forward, trying to catch her friend in a bone crushing hug. Luckily the fending girl's arms were longer, and she was able to keep away from the passionate embrace.

"Ah mo! Do you have any idea how soaked you are?" The tall actresses face was annoyed, but nothing like how she was before. Her exasperation even had a sound of pleasure. "Do you want to get me wet too?"

"But! but!" Kyoko stopped flailing, but she kept her arms outstretched, still looking for the hug that would never come. Her eyes were filled with happy tears, and Shoko smiled a bit at Kyoko's sheer tenacity in showing her affection. The small actress was almost soaked head to toe, and yet she didn't seem to notice how her skirt dripped, and her shirt clung to her. "You called me! I'm so happy that you wanted to talk to me first! It means we're friends!"

Both the actress and the manager's face fell, as Kanae slowly released her grip on Kyoko's head. Kyoko tilted her head in confusion, not understanding the emotional shift in the air.

"Sit down." Kanae sighed, rubbing her temples. "We need to talk to you."

"Hai!" Agreeing easily, Kyoko turned to the table for the first time. Her eyes widened a bit at the sight of her nemesis's manager already sitting in the booth. Not one to be impolite, Kyoko bowed and greeted her warmly, which the manager smiled weakly back to. Inward, Shoko winced. How ill-fitting that she would be there to see this sweet poor girl get betrayed again, by another man she admired. If she were Kyoko, she'd never want to see her ever again.

"Are you off tonight Aki-san?" Kyoko asked politely, as Kanae slid into the booth next to the manager. "I don't see the idiot…"

Kyoko's face darkened, as her sentence trailed off.

A sudden angry cough erupted from behind the two women. Kanae heavily elbowed the padded booth. The capped man behind them stopped coughing, just as quickly as he started.

"I asked her to be here. I need to tell you something." Kotonami said. Her words were heavy and blunt, and Shoko knew she was about to plow into the explanation immediately. Cutting her off, Shoko started first.

"Before that…has Tsuruga been spending a lot of time with you lately?"

Kyoko paused, really thinking about the question. She leaned her head back, and tapped her chin.

"I… guess so." She drawled out. It didn't seem to occur to her how often her senpai had been around until now. "I have seen Ren-san more than usual this past week."

"Ren? Since when have you been calling him that?" Kanae erupted, shock clearly evident on her face. "You don't even call me Kanae!" The angry coughing started again, and this time Shoko was the one who brought her elbow back into the chair.

"I can call you Kanae?" Kyoko cried, in surprise and glee. "Kanae-chan!" Kyoko jumped up from her chair, and tried to capture her best friend in a hug over the table. Shoko jumped, surprised at the sudden grab attempt. Again, Kanae pushed her friend back with an extended arm, fending off another wild hug.

"Ah Mo! Kyoko, that's not the point! The point is that Tsuruga is using you!"

All flailing and fighting stopped the instant those words left her lips. Time paused, as the entire scene went into a freeze frame. The silence at the table could have allowed a petal to fall, and have it be heard as a gunshot.

Kyoko face was so unbelieving, so in denial that her eyes were perfect golden circles of shock. It was as if Kanae had told Kyoko the sun was simply a light bulb, on a set timer that rose, fell, brightened, and dimmed according to some obscure clock timer, and expected Kyoko to believe it.

"Moko-san…don't say things like that." Kyoko gave a light laugh, like the tinkling of small bells, as she broke the silence. She pulled back and sat down. "Ren-san wouldn't use me for anything. I am simply his lowly kohai. He is just being polite, trying to make me feel comfortable at LME because I'm talentless and as low as a slug..."

She said it all so simply and matter-of-factly that the two women were temporarily stunned. Did she really think she was talentless when she appeared in several successful television dramas? Hadn't she seen the buzz about her name going around in entertainment?

"...What would he be using me for?"

The mere idea that Ren would use her for anything seemed like an impossibility for her. The whole situation was much like Kanae imagined the old Kyoko would have acted if someone were to approach her about Shou, before she entered show business. Tsuruga Ren was her beloved senpai. Apparently he had already gotten into her friend's life more than anyone had realized.

"I keep telling you to pay attention to the media!"

Rummaging through a large bag, Kanae pulled out several big name magazines and slapped the stack on the table. "Everyone's saying Tsuruga is gay!" She ran her hand over the pile like fanning a deck of cards. "He wants to win you over and use you to prove he's not!" Kyoko leaned over the stack and read over the various flamboyant headlines, taking it all in.

"I bet he's been getting really friendly with you over this last week or so, right?"

"I guess, but…"

"He told you to call him Ren, didn't he?"

"After a year, yes, but..."

"He came to take you out of school early before. He obviously came over for dinner tonight. Right?"

"Well yes…but Moko-san…"

"No Kyoko!" The angry actress picked up one of the magazine, and threw it down for proof, emphasizing her point. "I'm telling you he's using you. If you two were really getting friendly enough to address each other by your first names, don't you think he would have mentioned the trouble he was having with the press!"

"Moko-san" Kyoko said soothingly, trying to sound reassuring despite her friend's rapidly increasing annoyance. "I know he's not using me."

"How can you be so sure?" Kanae said furiously at her best friend. "Do you trust him more than me?"

Again, Kanae was going to be left alone while her best friend took the side of someone else. She was furious. Why did this always happen? Why was it always the boy over the best friend? Her siblings over herself?

As if suddenly running out of steam, Kanae's voice cracked, and she turned her head away. "...More than your best friend?"

"No no! I trust you Moko-san! I do!" Kyoko whimpered. She took a hold of her best friend's hand over the table, and squeezed it reassuringly. It was only the table that kept her from hugging Kanae properly.

"I trust you more than anyone! It's just he's Tsuruga Ren! He's the number one sought after man. Why would he want someone like me? He has access to the most beautiful and successful women in Japan! Why would he force himself around me when someone else could solve his problems so much easier?"

"Because of him." Kanae said simply, emphasizing the word 'him' extremely darkly.

"Him?" Kyoko asked, baffled.

"Sho." Shoko sighed, speaking up for the first time. "Sho bet him that he couldn't. Sho made a bet with Tsuruga that if he didn't win you over in a week… Tsuruga would have to announce publicly that he was gay."

Kyoko recoiled as if she were slapped. She released Moko-san's hands. "Sho…Tsuruga…he took the bet?" Her eyes were wide again, but this time the actual situation seemed to be sinking in.

"Yes…" Shoko put her head down. She let the room go silent a bit, to allow Kyoko to process her words. "I didn't know what had happened until after the bet was made, and I was only able to confront Yash-"

"Yashiro knew too?" The girl choked out in surprise.

"Kyoko-san…I…" Shoko said hesitantly, wondering whether reaching out to her was the right thing to do.

"I thought he enjoyed it too…I thought he actually started respecting me…" Her voice cracked. "I thought he was…he acted just like I thought Corn would have…"

Corn? Shoko wondered. How do you act like a vegetable? Still, she sat stationary in her chair, watching the poor girl.

"He was always able to trick me into acting with him…" Kyoko grabbed the hem of her soaked skirt, and squeezed it so hard the water rang out, dripping to the floor. Her voice became softer at each word. "So convincing you can't help but respond…"

Both women sat frozen to their seats, watching the passionate actress emotionally deflate, right before their very eyes. The Kyoko they knew would be in flames of rage right now, in a whirlwind of destruction and hate. This girl before them was…breaking. Falling apart right in front of them, and there was nothing they could do to help her. Unsure of what to say or do that would be a comfort, their gazes fell, and allowed the silence to wash over.

What? That was it!

Where was the anger? Where was the furious delivery girl, throwing boxes of food and declaring her revenge against that bas -?

She cared about him.

He couldn't help himself. The pencil between his fingers broke, and the blood pounded in his ears. The anger she should have been feeling flowed into him.

The cackle of cruel laughter filled the restaurant. It broke the silence, as the musician felt his gaze go red.

"You should be glad." Shou pounded his fists into the table, using it to stand up. He turned around and looked at his childhood friend. His parents' choice for his future bride. "No one would go after a no-name, plain, clingy lackey newbie unless they were roped into it, especially a celebrity like Tsuruga Ren."

She looked up at him, but her flaming golden eyes were dull and empty, like she was looking through him to the truth behind it all. She didn't even seem surprised to see him.

"Shou! What're you…" His manager tried to catch Shou's sleeve, pull him back as he got up, but the performer angrily yanked his arm away. He advanced on the tearful girl with heavy footsteps, angry adrenaline driving him on.

"Even if you shoot to the top of the Japanese charts, you'll always be that crybaby that has to follow behind someone."

The nerve of her to look so in pain, so lost! The only person to bring that look to her face before was her mother. She had only gotten furious with me, and she grew because of it. She didn't look like this! She didn't mourn like this!

His words were brutal, spit out in raw emotion with no filter to stem them. His fury spilled over. Kyoko head fell, staring at her lap. And she still wouldn't wipe off that stupid devastated look on her face.

"Even your mother didn't want you! Why would someone like him treat you like you meant something without an ulterior motive!"

He never caused her to look like she was grieving. The only person she had loved enough to cause that much anguish was her mother.

Until now.

He took her shoulders in his hands and tugged her to her feet. "I'm the only one who will help you. I'm the only one who'll put up with you forever, like it was meant to be! I'm your prince!"

The sudden movement of her arm made him shut his eyes. He knew what was coming, and he waited for the smack. That show of anger that was his Kyoko.

Her flat palm hung in the air, so close to Shou's cheek that he was sure he had been hit. There was no pain, no sound of skin hitting skin, but he must have been hit. He needed to be. There was no way she would pull back on him now. He had to stay in her heart.

"There is no such thing as a prince, Shoutaro."

Her voices sounded so empty that he barely heard her. Shaking her head, she finally raised her head to meet his. Her gaze was so dead, missing the passion of life he was used to provoking from her. There was none of the hatred he wanted, nor of the loving look she once watched him with as a child.

Bringing her hand to her face, she swept away the moisture that fell from her eyes. It was a hard, angry wipe. She tried to do it quickly, but the action still meant the same. He let her go abruptly, and backed away in panic.

Kyoko didn't cry. Why was she crying? Where was her anger?

"I'm sorry…" She whispered, turning her head away.

The stupidity of her comment smacked him harder than she herself could have. Why would she be apologizing? He just ripped into her. He had said things…that he thought he could never say to her. Now she was crying, and yet she could still apologize to him?

"I never wanted to do that in front of you again…"

Of course Kyoko cried. She used to always cry when they were kids, and he never had any idea what to do. Until one day she just stopped…and she hadn't cried in front of him in years. Even those days when he knew Mogami-san had shunned her daughter back to the inn; Kyoko would just disappear, and come back with a make-shift smile. How long had she been hiding her tears from him?

"Kyoko…?" He felt like he was eight again, watching his pig-tailed best friend, his only real friend, suffering. Why did she always worry about him, instead of herself? Even after so many years, he still didn't know the words to make things better.

His voice was intimate and regretful. Shou asked, reaching out hesitantly to her. "Kyoko? I...I didn't mean it… I was just angry…I was just kidding about the bet…"

He touched her shoulder, but she jerked back from his touch like it was scalding. Her eyes were dry, but her voice was still just as hollow.

"I guess…I needed this. To finally grow up." Kyoko cast her head down, and walked silently to the door. The moments went by like hours, the dingy café silent except for her footsteps.

The automatic doors opened, and the sound of the rain rushed in. She turned back to the small group, and gave her last sad but heartfelt smile.

"Thank you…everyone…" Kyoko whispered, before slipping past the doors. The small bell tinkled as she left.

Were you moved? I really really hope so. I wanted this to be a heavy hitting chapter. I've never written an altercation to this magnitude, and I wanted it to pull at heart strings (just a little bit). Anger and/or sadness are both acceptable. Let me know if it worked.

No, not a Yankees fan. But I am a New Yorker, and I had to slip in my native city somehow. *lol*

As usual, thanks Runa for being my beta-lady as well as my soundboard! Lyrics are copyright of Maroon 5's "Back At Your Door" It's the inspiration of this chapter.