Well…we're about halfway through the 'confusion arc' as it were. To be honest, I want this arc to be over soon so that I can get onto the juicy stuff but…it needs to be done so…

Hmm…I wonder…

Do people think that this is going to be a happy ending? Overall?

Advent '08

December 16th - Everyone shout! 9!

That morning Kyoko had to endure another round of jealousy from the girls in the student population.

Standing up for herself yesterday had just made things worse and now there were rumours flying all over the school about herself, Sho and Nanokura. She just wished that she could go back in time and prevent herself from saying those things.

It was going to hurt when she had to admit that she wasn't going to the awards.

Sitting in her seat, she could feel the stares on her back and hear the whispers about her. Nanokura had a snarl on her face and her arms crossed across her chest. She had been staring at Kyoko's back for hours and Kyoko was feeling the tension.

Luckily she only had one more lesson left before the bell for lunch rang and she could get out of this hell hole and get back to her friends at L.M.E.

It was all going to be ok. She would tell Ren that she wouldn't go and he wouldn't think of her as a suck-up anymore. Not going to the awards would calm down Nanokura and her need to be the most privileged girl in the school.

The awards should also distract those girls who seemed to hate her because she starred opposite Sho, so that by the time the school started up again after the holidays everything would be back to normal again.

She flinched as another paper ball bounced off her arm.

It would all be alright.

Just one more hour.

---/---

As soon as the bell rang Kyoko ran out of the room. Forget propriety, she just wanted to get out of there as fast as she could. It didn't even matter that it looked like she was running away, she was running away.

The last hour had been hell. The girls, as if able to smell her escape was imminent, had redoubled their efforts to take their frustrations out on her.

She sighed when she reached the bike shed and found that they hadn't sabotaged her bike. Well, that was one good thing at least.

She hopped on and started to cycle to work, just glad to get away.

She arrived just a little bit late due to ice on the roads, there had been a pretty spectacular car crash and she was glad that she wasn't part of it even as she was sorry for those who were.

As soon as she got through the doors she was rushed off her feet. She barely had time to change before she was called this way and that and rushed off her feet. It wasn't until her break that she finally found time enough to breathe.

Collapsing down onto the steps she smiled weakly at Kanae who looked as exhausted as she felt.

"Urgh. Why is it so busy?"

Kyoko shrugged in response.

"Seriously, everyone seems to be doing something and we have to do it for them."

Kanae paused and looked at Kyoko but Kyoko missed it because she had her eyes closed.

"I don't want to talk about work anymore. So Kyoko? Anything interesting happen to you lately?"

Kanae watching with a smirk as Kyoko tensed slightly and peeked through her closed eye at her.

"Interesting? What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Oh, you know…the usual? Going anywhere interesting?"

Kyoko just stared at her, seemingly making up her mind about something. It took a few moments but eventually she leant forwards.

"Ok. Can you keep a secret?"

Kanae leaned closer.

"Of course! What is it?"

Kyoko bit her bottom lip and glanced around them, checking that they really were alone.

"Well…Ren-san asked me to go to the Winter Awards with him."

Kanae sat there, shocked.

"What? When? What did you say?"

"Well…I said yes."

"Oh! That's great!"

"But I'm going to see if I can find him this afternoon to cancel."

"…What."

Kyoko blushed.

"Well. I don't want him to think that I wanted him to take me. Just take me. I don't…I don't want him to think that I was angling for an invitation. I don't want him to see me like that."

Kanae blinked.

"So you're going to tell him that you don't want to go with him. Even after he specifically asked you?"

"…Yes?"

"Don't you think that that's a bit rude? I mean…he specifically asked you. Went out of his way to find you and speak to you…you know? And you're going to throw that back in his face?"

Kyoko looked horrified and Kanae breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"I've never thought about it like that. I don't want him to be upset or insulted. I'll just have to explain everything when I cancel."

With that Kyoko stood and brushed off her trousers.

"Thank you Moko-chan. If you hadn't have said anything I probably would've made a huge mistake."

Kanae watched in horror as her friend left. What had she done?

She needed to talk to Yashiro.

---/---

Yashiro was enjoying his own break when Kanae interrupted him.

He had been busy all day and this was the first chance that he had gotten to get himself a cup of coffee. He had a long night ahead of him.

He was just walking down the corridor when Kanae rushed up to him and grabbed his wrist.

"Careful! It's hot!"

"Never mind that." She said, brushing him off. "We need to talk. Somewhere private."

She looked around them and spied a door.

"Perfect."

Opening the door she shoved Yashiro into the room before joining him and shutting the door behind them. With the door closed the room was pitch black and it took Kanae a few moments to find the switch.

She flipped it and a dim bulb flickered on. Yashiro was looking a bit panicked and pressed against some shelves. Kanae was squished up against him. She looked around.

"Huh."

"Ka-Kanae-chan? Why are you…? Why are we…?" He cleared his throat. "Why are we in here?"

"We needed to talk privately." She frowned. "You know, this room looked a lot bigger from the outside."

"This isn't a room! It's a cupboard barely able to hold one person!"

He flushed a deep red as Kanae moved against him to peer into his face.

"Are you ok Yashiro-san? You're going a little red…"

"I-I'm fine!"

"And you're breathing heavily. Are you claustrophobic?"

"Yes! No! I mean…um…"

Kanae raised her eyebrow.

"Uh-huh. Well. I have news on the plan front."

Yashiro blinked away his awkwardness.

"Really? What?"

"Well." Kanae shifted again, trying to get comfortable and Yashiro held his breath and closed his eyes until she had finished. "It turns out that Tsuruga-san did ask her to go with him."

"I knew it! I knew the plan would work!"

"But…"

"Oh no. There's a but? Why is there always a but?"

"But…Kyoko thinks it's her fault that he asked her. Like she was specifically angling to get him to invite her. She feels bad."

Yashiro groaned and hung his head. Why did this always happen? He had a plan. He put the plan into motion and they always, always managed to screw it up somehow.

"Kyoko-chan is going to try and find him sometime today to cancel."

"What?! We have to stop her!"

"What do you want me to do?"

Yashiro closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He had to think of something.

"Ok. Ok. Here's the plan. I get Ren-san out of here as soon as possible. Until then you have to keep Kyoko-chan busy and out of the parts of the building that she might run into Ren-san. Can you do that for me?"

"I can do that. Don't worry."

Yashiro looked down as Kanae grinned up at him and swallowed.

"Perfect. Thank you. You should do that now. Yes. Now."

Kanae raised her eyebrow.

"Um…ok? I'll just -"

The door opened onto them.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realise that this cupboard was taken."

Yashiro stared in mounting horror as a woman smirked at the position that he found himself in with Kanae.

"It's not…it's not what you think!"

"Oh?" she smirked. "So it wasn't something innocent then? Glad to know. Well. You must excuse me I have to go find another unoccupied cupboard. Ta ta!"

The door closed on them and Yashiro could only groan in mortification.

"Well." Kanae cleared her throat. "I guess I'll be going now."

Yashiro just nodded and closed his eyes, not moving until he was sure that Kanae was well and truly away, then he sank to the floor and dropped his head in his hands.

He only hoped that whoever it was didn't know anyone high up and didn't say anything.

---/---

Harumi had to wait until she was well out of earshot before she could burst out laughing.

That had been a priceless moment.

She only wished she had brought her camera!

She had learnt a lot about the plan listening through the door. Now she just couldn't wait to tell Lory who his top manager had been cavorting with!

Heh heh heh…maybe she could get another bet out of the old geezer.

---/---

Kanae was exhausted.

Ever since she had ran out to find Kyoko again she had been rushing all over the building trying to keep up with her.

That girl was not normal! How could she have so much energy?!

She had had to keep her busy and then create jobs for her to do whilst trying not to draw attention to the fact that she was trying to keep her busy.

She had given up five minutes ago and was sitting on the floors watching Kyoko finish cleaning up the floor.

"Kanae-chan!"

She looked up as she heard her name called out. Sawara stood at the end of the corridor beckoning her over.

Reluctantly she stood and made her way over to him.

"Yes Sawara-san? Can I help you?"

"Ah, yes Kanae-chan. I was hoping that you were free. Could you run across and delivery this message for me? I'd ask Kyoko-chan but she's busy so…?"

Kanae looked from the message to Kyoko and back.

Could she leave Kyoko for the time it would take to run this message across? Could she trust her friend to not rush off and try and find Ren?

She was pretty sure that Kyoko had no idea that she had purposefully been keeping her busy but, then again, she wasn't completely sure.

Kyoko was sometimes sneaky like that.

It didn't really matter anyway. She would have to trust Kyoko as she couldn't not deliver the message. She was a member of the Love Me section after all.

She sighed and took the note.

"That's great Kanae-chan. Thank you."

Kanae nodded and started on her journey to the other side of the building.

She only hoped that Kyoko had enough cleaning left to do to keep her busy for half an hour.

---/---

Kyoko looked up when she saw Kanae leave. Inside she was a little relieved. Kanae had been with her every moment of the afternoon and Kyoko had barely had found time to breathe let along find Ren to talk to him privately.

This was her chance!

She shoved the mop into the bucket and started to jog down the corridor. She wasn't sure where he would be so she was just going to go to the nearest person who would know.

She stood in the Presidents waiting room staring at Mine-san's empty chair.

Well…this kind of threw a wrench in her plans.

She just stood there, completely non-plussed. Now what should she do?

She was still standing there when a woman came up behind her.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

"Oh, no. Um…well…do you know where Mine-san is?"

"I sent her away for a few minutes on an errand. To deliver a message actually. Was there something that you desperately needed?"

"Well…no. There is nothing that you could help me with."

The woman shrugged and Kyoko turned around to leave.

"If you're looking for Ren-kun he's in the foyer."

Kyoko froze before turning around slowly.

"Wh-what?"

The lady smiled.

"Just a note…in case you were interested?"

"O-oh…thank you! That's what I was wanting to know. How did you know?"

"You'd better hurry. He's leaving right now."

"Ah! Thank you again! Bye!"

She waved goodbye as she rushed off. She only had a very short time before Ren left for the day.

If she didn't catch him now she was going to have to wait until Thursday to catch him again!

She ran down all the stairs at break-neck speed and skidded into the foyer praying that Ren was still there.

---/---

Yashiro was breathing a small sigh of relief.

He had managed to keep Ren away from Kyoko all day and was feeling quite pleased with himself. Though he knew that he was going to have to thank Kanae a lot as well.

They made a great team…

He blushed slightly.

And, even though Ren was a little suspicious, it was all turning out ok because he had Ren sitting in the drivers seat of their car ready to leave and he hadn't seen hide nor hair of Kyoko all day.

A whirlwind of pink rushing into the foyer caught his eye through the glass.

Spoke to soon.

He looked on in horror as he watched Kyoko talk to the girl at the reception desk who pointed straight at him.

Trying no to scream in frustration he practically dived into the seat, fastened his seatbelt, locked the doors and rolled up all the windows.

Ren raised his eyebrow at his managers actions.

"Yashiro-san? Is there something -?"

"Drive."

Ren blinked.

"What do yo-?"

"Drive now if you want to live."

"Now, Yashiro-san. I don't think anything is that dramatic?"

Out of the corner of his eye Yashiro saw Kyoko struggling her way through the crowds and reaching for the door.

"Ren-san. I am being deathly serious. If you do not drive now I will touch every electrical thing you ever own."

Ren's eyes widened and he stepped on the accelerator, speeding away.

Yashiro held his breath as he saw Kyoko appear in the rear view mirror. It wasn't until she was completely out of sight and showed no sign of appearing that he let out his breath.

He had been worried that she would chase after him after the stories that Sawara-san had told him. But it seemed that Kyoko wasn't going to do that in this situation.

He thanked his lucky stars.

"So…" Ren started. "You mind telling me what the big rush was?"

"I…forgot that I had left the stove on at home."

---/---

Kyoko watched as the car sped away.

This was terrible! Now she was going to have to make sure that she saw Ren on either Thursday afternoon or Friday. After that the Love Me section broke up for the Christmas holidays and she was sure that if she cancelled during the holidays then it would be too late.

She sighed and rubbed her forehead to try to stave off the headache that she could feel coming on.

This…was not part of her plan.

There we go.

Longer chapter and my tablet pen has still been kidnapped. (Damn you WriterofShadow!)

This means that I can't let her cancel…heh heh heh heh

*evil smirk*

DS