This only happened because people insisted and I wanted Ren to say 'check please'. Didn't quite say it, but close enough. Fluff at the end.

Dinner Sho

Sho could not believe it. After all the problems he had over the past two weeks with the press, that bastard actor just had to be in the same restaurant he was! Here the top singer in Japan was trying to fix his reputation by taking a few groupies to dinner with him in a place he was sure to be seen, and that damned actor just had to be laughing with some call-girl at a table in the center of the room! He just had to be there that night!

Glaring death upon the man, the singer abandoned his fans and marched loudly to the creep's table. Their eyes met for a brief moment, showing the man's surprise just seconds before he slammed his hand against the table, rocking everything on it every which way. A shocked squeak came from the wench he managed to snag that night, but he didn't look back to her. His furious stare was only on the stock still actor before him.

Tsuruga Ren was frozen with a blank face before him. Finally Sho had the advantage.

Sneering superiority on the man, he finally got his chance to tell him off. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up here after what you did, Tsuruga."

"Pardon?"

"You made a real fool out of me last time we met." The irate teen-turned-adult loomed over the man with his death glare. "Because of you, I have to do damage control. Repairing my image is gonna take months. And you get off scot-free because of your pretty acting. Now you have the gall to take some bitch out to dinner in front of the cameras after screwing around with Kyoko? I aughta-"

"Aughta what? Shoutaro?"

If Sho had been paying attention, he would have noticed Tsuruga's lips twitch in amusement at that point. He also would have noticed the slightest flare of anger in his eyes when he insulted his date. Hey, if he was paying attention, he would have realized that his date that night happened to be no other than the girl they were fighting over. Now he was paying attention, and it felt like the furious demon summoning actress behind him was going to slaughter him through supernatural means. The younger man froze momentarily and slowly turned around to look at her properly for what may have been the first time.

Rising from her seat, Kyoko glared even more heinously at him than when she declared revenge. She wore a light brown wig just passing her elbows that evening, along with a classic little black dress and silk shawl. A few well-placed ruby jewelry and makeup pieces, along with the way she held herself, made it incredibly difficult to recognize her. Her supernatural glare though was unmistakable.

What did he just walk into? 'Oh crap.'

"Well? What 'aught' you do? Interrupt a perfectly good meal and friendly conversation? Just because you happen to see a more famous person here than yourself you think you can bully?" Her glare became darker and darker as Sho tried to come up with some way to fix this. He was so busy thinking in a panic and trying to show Kyoko that he was paying attention to her that he missed Tsuruga flagging down a waiter, let alone all the cameras going off.

"Kyoko..."

"Why do you think we're even here, you idiot! Because of your stupidity-"

"My stupidity?! You're the one going off with strange guys! What are you-"

"Someone had to fix this!" Kyoko was out of her seat now, glaring down her former childhood friend as they bickered endlessly. Just beyond them, the oldest of this interesting love triangle was performing damage control.

"I'm sorry about this but may I have the check? And a couple to-go boxes for dessert and the lady's plate?" Tsuruga inclined his head to the bickering duo, an apologetic smile for the waiter. "This is going to take a while."

"So... Sorry about this Tsuruga-san."

Ren tried to keep up a pleasant, understanding smile that wasn't hiding any anger, nor was laughing at how cute she was at that point, as he tried to reassure Kyoko what he had from the beginning. "There's nothing for you to apologize for. Neither one of us can predict what that guy is going to do next. And you are not responsible for what happened."

"But..." Red head to toe, Kyoko just stared at the dashboard, wanting to disappear. "It's my fault that he-"

"It is not your fault," he reminded her once again. She really needed to stop that habit of looking out for that punk. "If it is anyone's, it's just his. He still hasn't learned his lesson."

"What lesson?" She looked at him curiously, cocking her head to the side. Ren nearly lost his focus driving spotting her innocent stare. She was just too cute! And incredibly naive.

Sighing momentarily at his wandering thoughts, he explained. "Sometimes the best action is no action. Especially when it comes to public places and the press. Tomorrow I have no doubt there will be new rumors about all three of us."

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have lost my temper! If I hadn't-"

"Then I would have." Honestly, what was Fuwa thinking calling her something like that? He was the one dragging around four or five impressionable girls to dinner. Ren was quite satisfied just being with Kyoko, even when they weren't doing anything but having a public dinner to prove to the press he wasn't gay. "He shouldn't have said those things to you Mogami-san, and I will not tolerate that behavior towards anyone, especially towards people I care about."

'Especially you' was barely kept from his lips, but the tightening of his hands on the steering wheel made them clear in her mind, he hoped. Fuwa was out of line, and unintentionally exposed his real, selfish, and childish self to the media. As Ren calmly paid for their meal and extracted Kyoko from the fight, the singer had kept going off on them and had to be forcibly removed from the restaurant.

Forcibly removed from two high class locations within the same month with his mouth going off uncontrollably. This was not a good month for him. Worse yet, their... relationship (for the lack of a better word) was becoming known. They had managed to keep Kyoko out of the limelight until then (some kind of unspoken rule between them) but now people were going to ask who the mystery woman was. If Fuwa kept this up, he'd send his reputation down the toilet all on his own.

As fun as that was, it wouldn't help anyone. Especially the suspiciously silent and blushing girl in the passenger seat. Taking a deep breath, Ren put the entire incident aside in his mind to favor her with a smile. They couldn't go dancing like he planned thanks to Fuwa, but at least they enjoyed themselves until that point. Their first official 'date' (a LoveMe assignment to keep his reputation safe) was coming to a close as they made it back to the restaurant Kyoko boarded at. He needed to end it on a high note. "That look on his face when the waiters dragged him out was pretty good."

"Yeah..."

"Almost made all the trouble he caused."

"Would have been better with pie on it." The cartoonish image now in their heads started a fit of giggles between the two of them. Ren put the car into park and unbuckled his seatbelt to help her out of the car, trying to smother his laughter. He took the to-go boxes from her hands before gracefully helping her out of the passenger seat, kicking the door shut behind her and keeping her hand in his as he walked her to the door. "I can take-"

"Let me be a gentleman for the entire night," he insisted, reminding her of proper dating etiquette (which he was teaching her the entire night as well). "You can have them at the door."

Pouting, his princess nodded and followed him to her home. At the doorstep, he decided to take a chance and find out exactly where he stood with this girl. "Traditionally when a man and woman part for the night after a date, they seal it with a kiss on the doorstep."

"EH?!" Beet red, Kyoko almost took her hand out of his, but he managed to keep his grip on her.

"That's if it's between boyfriend and girlfriend," he quickly amended. "If it's between friends, a hug of thanks is quite acceptable. If the date didn't go well or there is little to affection, a handshake is proper. If you hated it entirely, you run out of the car screaming."

"Is that really appropriate Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko gave him a doubtful look and he could not blame her for one minute. This was a polite custom among Americans. He didn't have a clue if that was true in Japan. The last time he dated anyone, he was 15!

"Quite appropriate," he assured her with a smile, careful not to be caught lying. "Especially since this is how the lady tells her date how she feels about the date and her companion. What she says can even determine if there will ever be a second date. Other than the kiss being a mutual decision, the lady iniciates what takes place on the doorstep."

"I see…" She seemed to think about it for a minute before looking at him with real concern. "But… your arms are full. I don't want to trouble you."

Arms. Hug. YES! Ren's heart leapt for joy at the implication, his smile starting to glow happily though still contained. "I'm quite capable of holding you with one arm. Should I demonstrate?"

"Eh?"

Without any further warning, he let go of her hand and slid his arm around her waist and up her back, gently pulling her towards his chest. He gave her every opportunity to escape (he only had one arm free after all), but instead her arms somehow ended up around his middle. Lightly, but they were there! It was really hard for him to contain his happiness just having her there like that. "See? I can manage it. Thank you for such a wonderful evening."

"But Sho-"

"Did not make your company any less enjoyable." He relaxed his hold to look at her pink face, very glad she no longer froze up or turned into a radish every time he held her. Kyoko had grown a lot over the past few months. "Next time though, let's go somewhere more private."

"Next time?"

'Crap. Getting ahead of ourselves aren't we Ren.' The actor racked his brain for some excuse for the slip up. Official date number two was a long way off at their snail's pace. Besides, this was a LoveMe assignment…

"Well, you can't expect rumors to be dispelled in a single night, can you? Three sightings in two months should be enough." He let go of her and took a step back, bringing the food front and center as he spoke. "We can discuss future appearances and points later at LME. Deal?"

Kyoko seemed to stare at him blankly for a moment before nodding and taking her food. "Deal."

"Alright then… Goodnight Mogami-san."

"Goodnight Tsuruga-san." Bowing slightly, she gave him a small smile and headed inside.

With his date finally safely indoors, Ren took a deep breath and headed back to his car, savoring every face she made in the past ten minutes. A date, a hug, and a promise for at least two more dates within the next two months. His long suppressed teenaged hormones got him to grin in triumph and nearly punch the air. Despite the idiot's interruption, this was a wonderful night.

END (for real this time!)

A/N: I have no idea if the date doorstep thing is national or global or just from my subculture, but it was how I was told to end dates. Give guys a complimentary hug so you don't hurt their feelings and make it clear whether you are willing to go out again. I was all ready to hug my last date, but he turned it into a handshake... =/ weird.

took the entire story a little longer than I wanted to, but oh well. Hope you've loved the fluff! G'nght!