It's like...a bomb going off in her head. Or something else nerve-wracking because all she thinks she hears is a ringing noise in her ears. "Uh, come again?"

"I know him. Personally."

"What?"

"I know who he is, Mogami-san."

"...You know who he is in real life?"

"Yes."

"And he isn't a fairy?"

"No, he isn't. I'm sorry."

"Who is he? Can you take me to him?"

"He's your brother."

Her eyebrows fly up. "My brother? But I don't have a brother!"

"Mogami-san, I sure hope Hizuri-san never hears that from you," Ren teases.

She lets out a shocked gasp, her fingers covering her mouth. "Hizuri Kuon is my Corn?"

"Small world, huh?" In fact, it's even smaller than that. The annoying Disney tune starts playing in his head, but he drowns out the hysterical tinny music.

"Do mom and dad know?"

"No, he never told them about it." Maybe I should have...the. It wouldn't have been so long. Maybe we could have been normal friends and this whole thing wouldn't be so damn complicated like a soap opera. "It felt like a dream, those two weeks. He never thought he'd see you again.

"Can you bring me to him?" A thought enters Ren's mind and he pounces on the opportunity.

"I will. After you meet another...friend of mine."

Her eyes light up. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be seeing this friend tonight, so you can come with me."

"Tonight? But I have a LoveMe job tonight," she frowns.

I know you do, Bo. "How about I take you to your job tonight then?"

"Oh, but I can't have you do that."

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't needed."

"You wouldn't want to inconvenience me by not letting be take you, right?"

"Inconvenience you? How?" She looks at him worriedly.

"Well my friend works at TBM, so if you don't let me, I'll have to make two trips, and the traffic will be horrible. I might as well hit two birds with the same stone."

He notices her eyes tense slightly. If he weren't looking for it, he would have missed it. "Really? He works at TBM?" She asks cheerfully. "What's his name? Maybe I've heard of him!"

"Well, I don't know his real name, but his character's name is Bo. He's the rooster off of that one show with the singers. I think they are known as the Ishibashi brothers."

"No kidding? Wow."

"He's getting popular too. I tape the show whenever it's on and watch it for the chicken."

"That's pretty cool."

"Yes. He's helped me a lot, so I want you to meet him."

"But he must be busy if he records his show tonight. Maybe we shouldn't bother him," she puts out there. If I didn't know what I know, I would have agreed. But now I'm feeling a bit empathetic because it is like this 'Bo' is akin to your 'Corn'. Just not eleven years running, as emotionally invested, infested with magic, and a chanced meeting...but the framework is there. That will help with the unveiling. Nothing like personal guilt to soften things up.

"Nonsense! Besides, it isn't like we are going to interrupt the show. We'll just meet him before or after." He shrugs his shoulders. "No big deal." He can see the inner turmoil of the girl and he nearly starts laughing.

"Okay! We'll meet your Bo," she gives in. "By the way, Tsuruga-san, what time is it?"

"I think it's inching closer to seven right now, why?"

Her eyes get wide. "We have to go!" She jumps down from the counter and peels out of the room.

"What's going on?" He follows her to the laundry room where she's shaking out the laundry.

"I have to be at TBM by seven-thirty or he'll have my head!" She gathers her clothes and locks herself in the bathroom quickly. He smiles and goes to his room to get dressed, re-poping the contacts in as he goes. He then texts the president to get Ms. Woods on standby with whatever is needed to change his hair at the office, then ignores his message asking why.

Ren rushes them to TBM and Kyoko tries to run the second they stop, but Ren stops her. He points to the clock as he keeps her door locks from his side. "Look, we still have twenty minutes since the traffic was surprisingly good and we were so quick leaving. Relax." They get out of the car together and they start walking towards the studio. They get to where the show is in less than five minutes and they stand at the door where an apparent stagehand stops them and asks them their purpose in being here. Well, asks Ren because he knows why she's here. "We're looking for Bo. See, I'm a friend of his and would like to speak with him and have him meet Mogami-san here." He smiles and slightly gestures to her. Ren notices the slightly confused glance from the man to the girl beside himself, but it disappears rather quickly.

"Well Bo is getting briefed about tonight's show now by the producer. We only have him a few hours a week, so he's pretty much busy until after the show. Is there a message I can give him?"

"Oh really? Well, then I guess we'll have to try again later. What was your name?"

"Ishibashi Hikaru, but as there are two other Ishibashis, we go by our first names. I'm Hikaru."

"Nice to meet you in person, Hikaru-san. You work with Bo quite well."

"You have seen the show, Tsuruga-sama?"

"If I'm going to be calling you by your given name, you will have to call me by mine as well. But yes, I do when I have the time after work." He gives a small smile. "The chicken is funny."

"Well then I guess you'll have to get onto the show and be a part of it sometime, Ren-san."

"I'll have to get my manager on it then."

"Yes, please." The man turns to Kyoko. "Kyoko-san, the, uh, set manager will be mad if you're late, right?"

"Your LoveMe work is on this show?" Ren asks Kyoko.

"She's a good runner," Hikaru answers for her easily without skipping a beat. "Almost takes no time going from place to place. She has good intuition as well; she will arrive to you with a glass of water before you even know you're parched." Ren nods, knowing what it was like when he didn't know he was sick.

Kyoko sends a prayer to heaven in thanks for a quick thinker like Hikaru. "Right, has anyone gotten Bo's suit yet?"

"I think so. It's in his dressing room."

"Thank goodness. Okay. So who's tonight's guest?"

"One of them is that retiring model from Julie Swan's line, but I keep forgetting her name. Last names stick with me better, but foreigners all go by their first names."

"You'll get it right in time. Was it Isabella?"

"No."

"Samantha?"

"No, but I think it did start with an S."

"Suzie then."

"That's it!"

Kyoko nods. "I remember from last time she was here she thought the room was too cold to stay in and her voice was a little dry by the time she got on stage which was a pity because her voice was like an angels. I should go see if everything is fine and give her some water after I find Kei-san."

"Okay, but hurry. You know he's always looking for fault in your work since you messed up the eggs that time. I think I saw him on the other side, past the cooler, around door three."

"Thank you, Hikaru-san!" She scurries away in the direction and loops the set quickly, diving into the right dressing room to quickly change and meet the other Ishibashi-sans with the producer as Bo with two minutes to spare. Meanwhile, Ren is left to chat with Hikaru for a few minutes before he dismisses himself to wait on his own so the host can go make his rounds.

Again, I find myself nearly believing what is being told to me. They just about fooled me into thinking she really is just a gofer for the show. I've got to be careful to not fall into step while trying to overturn this whole thing. He steps out of the studio and goes to the cafeteria for a coffee, deciding to kill an hour. He tells the president what to get ready for the visit and even picks at an onigiri. He gets back to the studio in time to see Bo waddle out of the door in his suit. Ren's about to call after the rooster when he spies the chestnut-haired girl beside him, laughing.

Kyoko.