After an appropriate amount of time devoted to writhing in embarrassment and several concerned assurances from Maria, Kyoko returned to her chair in the center of the room. Did it feel like the room was spinning? It felt like it was spinning.

"You're positive," said Kyoko.

"Yes," said Maria. "He loves you."

"You promise you're not just making it up to assuage my feelings?"

Maria threw up her hands. "If you don't believe me, we can just get Ren-sama in here and he can answer you himself."

"Don't!" Kyoko stood up, then quickly sat back down, her legs still weak from shock. "I don't think I could take that right now."

Maria shot her a look that took in Kyoko's panicked wide eyes and death grip on the sides of the chair. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not ready." Just the thought of seeing him was enough to make her erupt again. She could already feel a violet blush warming her face just from imaging him shooting her a concerned caring look. All this time. All those looks. They had held genuine affection. Those gentle compliments and patient assurance. His annoying teasing and stubborn set of his jaw.

Or straddling his bare chest on the bed in a black, strappy, leathery vest.

Kyoko pressed her face into her knees, doing her best impersonation of a whining kettle.

Maria gave her a consoling pat on the back. "Well, considering how long it took for you to figure it out, maybe confessing too quickly would be a bad idea."

Kyoko didn't move. If she could stay here forever, she would. But, alas, the world continued to spin, and she had to be a big girl and face this. Still frazzled but determined, Kyoko raised her head.

"I want to tell him how I feel," she said. "But I also really, really don't."

"Why?"

Why indeed? Maybe because she was a coward. Or a part of her still couldn't believe it. Or maybe she still had Sho's image stuck in her head, sneering at her food-covered mess as he shredded into her self-image.

That was part of it, yeah. But it wasn't the main part anymore.

"I think if I tried," she said. "I'd explode halfway through."

"You know," said Maria. "that's entirely valid."

"So, I can't tell him until I know I can make it through a confession without exploding."

Maria gave her a long hard look. "Onee-sama. I love you. But if you wait that long I'll have grandkids by then."

Kyoko's head went back onto her knees.

"Look," said Maria, failing to sound patient. "I'm not going to push you. I honestly shouldn't have told you he loves you in the first place, but I was just getting so tired of watching you two dance around each other. But I promise, I won't say anything to him."

There was that at least.

"…But I can't promise I won't try and push the two of you together."

"I knew it would be too good to be true," said Kyoko into her knees. She gave a lazy swat at the air. "Do your worst. I don't care, I'm going to die of humiliation every time I see him anyway. The setting won't matter anymore."

"Right. Well, as glad as I am that you've had this moment of enlightenment, there are other contestants who need their turn with the camera, so you need to go."

Kyoko took a solid five seconds to gather herself before doing just that. She barely managed to shuffle through the door, out into the hall, and into her room. Her face hit the pillow as she flopped into bed. She remained still for all of three seconds before she was wriggling around again.

Ren loved her.

He loved her!

Okay. She needed to focus. Needed a strategy. She sat up, hair sticking out in every direction from the static.

If she was going to confess, she needed to gather enough courage to say the tritest yet most powerful words in existence. Which meant she needed to find a way to temper her extreme reactions to his presence. She needed more control.

Well, I have been getting better with him using my name.

She still noticed every time he called her Kyoko-chan, or even Kyoko-san. She had just imagined it was Corn saying it and she had been able to handle it. But…even Corn had said that he loved her, hadn't he? He said he'd needed true love's kiss to break the spell on him and asked her to give him a kiss back in Guam.

…Man, they really had played mind games with each other the whole time, hadn't they? No wonder Kyoko had been so confused. Not that she could complain too much. She hadn't been honest with him about many things.

And she was getting off track.

Exposure therapy. That was essentially what she had done unknowingly with her name. Maybe her strategy didn't need to change. Maybe she just needed to keep getting used to this idea of them "being together". It had already worked. The exposure had allowed her to open herself up to the idea that he wanted her. Which had in turn allowed her to realize he'd been confessing this whole time.

She just needed to keep doing what she had been doing.

"Alright," said Kyoko out loud, thumping her chest. "Operation, 'continuing the exposure therapy' is a go! I'll keep dating Ren-san and we will grow so close that I won't contemplate drowning myself in the complimentary pudding every time we make eye contact."

Two seconds later, she flushed red for using his name.

Okay, so maybe her plan would also include five steps back as she recalibrated.

A timid knock at her door served as Kyoko's alarm the next morning. She ran a hand down her tired face. Checked her phone for the time. Then plopped her head back into the pillows. It was six-thirty in the morning. After tossing and turning all night she hadn't managed to fall asleep until well past 2 am. So, unless the building was on fire, she would not get up any earlier than nine.

The knock at the door came again, even more timid, and quiet than before. If it had been loud and obnoxious, Kyoko would have ignored it.

"I'm coming." She peeled herself from the bed, barely noticing that she still had on yesterday's clothing. Mid-head-scratch, she pulled open the door.

It wasn't one of the help, or Nerd-Ren like she dreaded. It was Sakura. She looked entirely too well put together for the day, hair done and makeup on, wearing a purple blouse tucked into high-waisted pants. She also looked like she hadn't expected such a bedraggled Kyoko to answer the door.

"Uh, bad time?" said Sakura.

"When is it not on this show?" grumbled Kyoko. "I just got to bed late. So, what's up?"

Sakura's smile stretched unnaturally, taking Kyoko's excuse even though she clearly wanted to ask more. "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I was feeling dejected and a little spiteful, but I shouldn't have shut you down like that." She massaged the back of her hands, the smile slipping. "I'm sorry for that. I still consider… I still want to be friends. If that's alright with you."

If Sakura didn't look like such a kicked puppy Kyoko might have rolled her eyes. Instead, she grimaced.

"I'm going to be entirely honest with you. Until you just mentioned it, I had forgotten you asked me for space."

"Oh."

And maybe it was still the wrong thing to say because Sakura looked even more disheartened. Real smooth Kyoko.

"What I mean is," said Kyoko. "You don't need to apologize. It makes sense that you wanted space, and you weren't rude about it. Plus, there's been…. a lot on my mind."

Sakura perked up. "We can still be friends?"

"Please," breathed Kyoko. "I could really use a friend right now. So long as you don't mind me being entirely insensitive to your feelings by talking about my love problems."

"I mean… so long as you don't mind if I still flirt with you sometimes."

"…That would imply that you've been flirting with me before this."

"Then don't worry about it." Sakura managed to wave away that entire implication like it didn't matter. "Of course, I don't mind. I am your biggest cheerleader when it comes to shipping you and Ren-san."

Kyoko's face reddened to a good imitation of a strawberry. It did not go unnoticed by Sakura.

"Did something happen?"

In response, Kyoko grabbed Sakura's wrist and yanked her inside, locking the door. She couldn't help looking around the corners of her room to check that no one else was there even though it was, well, her room, and she had been the only person to occupy it all night. Once satisfied, she faced Sakura to deliver the heavy news.

"Sakura-san. I think… no, I'm almost positive that Tsuruga-san towards me– what I mean is that he sort of. Maybe. Probably…"

"You finally figured out he loves you."

If possible, Kyoko turned redder. She covered her face with her hands, knowing that even they were red.

"I'm the biggest idiot there is," said Kyoko. "I can't believe it. That it would be me? Of all people."

"No. Stop that." Sakura held out a commanding finger. "There will be none of that with me around. Now, tell me. What's the plan to confess?"

"...hope for the best?"

"You can't be serious."

Kyoko threw up her hands, showing her bright red face and messed up appearance. "I can't even say how he feels about me. How can I expect myself to make it through a confession to his face."

"I do see the problem." Sakura pressed her fingertips to her lips seriously. "As cute as you are when flustered, it is hard to understand why you are like that. And I doubt Ren-san would instinctively understand after getting his hopes shut down so often."

Had that been an insult? That had sounded like an insult.

Sakura scanned Kyoko with narrowed eyes then walked to the closet and threw it open. After a minute she clapped her hands with a determined look on her face.

"It's a good thing I'm here because you are in full panic mode," said Sakura. "It's not unexpected. You did find out the man you love loves you back. And it looks like you didn't sleep much."

Kyoko shrugged. "I got a few hours."

"You need some moral support. And bolstering before you take the plunge." Sakura pulled out three different sets of blouses and bottoms, throwing the pile at Kyoko. "Take a shower and wash your face" She gave Kyoko a light shove. "You have 45 minutes. Wear something that's easy to take off."

"What?"

At Kyoko's sputtering, Sakura rolled her eyes, a small grin on her lips.

"Not like that, silly," she said, "We're going clothes shopping!"

Last night after Kyoko had left, Ryou had announced a supervised shopping excursion the next morning. Participants could sign an additional NDA for while they were off the premises and boom, permission was granted. Sakura had thought to sign Kyoko up just in case.

They could go by themselves or take the provided bus to certain high-end boutiques. There, they would receive a steep discount for being members of the show, and an even steeper discount if they signed a deal to wear the clothing on camera. Needless to say, almost all the women were present at the bus that morning.

The men had their own bus, a strategy that allowed for minimum TV crew as there would be minimal romance drama between the sexes. It also gave Kyoko a much-needed break from interacting with Ren. She had even skipped breakfast to avoid him!

She yawned in line, considering the makeup still in her bag from the bridal show last night. She had never taken the time to remove it and though she should probably put on some lip gloss, she couldn't find it in herself to care right now.

"Is there anything in particular you're looking for?" said Kyoko.

Sakura shrugged. "Not really. I would like a few dresses just because the price would be great. But you on the other hand. We need to find you some bombshell dress for when you tell Ren-san tonight that you love h—"

Kyoko pressed a hand over Sakura's mouth.

"Shh! What if someone hears you?"

"Oh stop," said Sakura, pushing the hand away. "You want them to know. That way you can stake your claim and make sure no one snatches him up. Not that you should be worried about that."

"I'm definitely worried about it."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Which is why you need a dress worthy of tonight. Everyone is going to be going all out, and not that you don't have nice dresses in your closet, they're not exactly black tie formal."

Which was apparently the dress code for tonight's engagement party. True enough, Maria had given her plenty of outfits, but none of them really had the same pazazz needed for such an occasion. So, Kyoko gave in and let Sakura drag her to the closest boutique the second the bus stopped.

And okay, maybe Kyoko was excited to try on some beautiful dresses.

They spent a good twenty minutes just ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the maze of red satin and blue tule. After their inner-princess fantasies had been satiated, they found a few worth trying on. Kyoko couldn't stop grinning as she slipped on her fourth dress, a blush pink dress with off-the-shoulder empire sleeves. She gave it a quick twirl after stepping out of the dressing room.

"You really like pink," said Sakura.

"It's a curse that I can't shake," said Kyoko.

"Plus, it looks good on you," said a voice behind them. Sexy-chan came walking through the clothes racks, several dresses slung over her arms. Bow-san was close behind, carrying an equally large burden of chiffon and satin. It seemed that after the breakup with Yoshio-san, the two of them had become fast friends. Nothing bonded women quite like an evil common ex.

They hung their spoils on one of the provided racks, grinning at them.

"The green looks good on you Sakura-san," said Sexy-chan in approval.

"You think?" Sakura gave it a whirl, the deep emerald complimenting her dark hair and fair complexion. "It feels dramatic."

"I saw what you were wearing for the bridal show yesterday. Bold is good."

The two of them fussed over accessories for a bit, getting excited about the dress. The feeling of easy girl friendship flowed naturally, Kyoko getting pulled in to examine all the options. This really was what she needed.

"Hey, did you hear what happened?" said Bow-san suddenly. "With Daichi-san and Hana-san?" Okay. So Kyoko was going to assume that Hana-chan was Salon-chan. When she answered in the negative, Bow-san grimaced. "The engagement has been called off."

"What?"

And like that, her troubles came racing back. Daichi. Eri. Ren. Her own inability to vocalize her feelings.

"Hana-san has been telling everyone about it," said Bow-san. "I thought you two might not have noticed as you were both in your own world on the bus. One would think poor Tsuruga-san has competition."

"Not for the heart," said Sakura, barely focused on the conversation, elbows deep in accessories with Sexy-chan. "Just for attention."

Bow-san popped her lips, an evil glint in her eyes. "Apparently, he couldn't get it up last night."

It took entirely too long for Kyoko to understand. When the bulb sparked, Kyoko dropped everything she was holding.

"Bow-san how could you talk about such personal things like that!" she wailed. "That's not something a refined lady as yourself should be saying."

"What?" said Bow-san defensively. "It's what Hana-san is telling everyone. She was laughing about it and letting people know. How he was nervous, and it wouldn't get hard and—"

Kyoko shoved a skirt into Bow-san's face. "I'm a pure Japanese maiden. I don't need to be hearing about such things!"

"Not that I'm a pure Japanese maiden," said Sakura. "But even I don't think that's okay. She shouldn't be mocking Daichi's inability to 'rise to the occasion'. That's a sure way to kill his spirit."

"Agreed," said Sexy-chan. "You don't mock a man's dick—"

"—Oh my gosh!"

"—It will give him even more performance issues."

"Just stop talking." Kyoko plopped herself on the ground, arms over her head as she willed the conversation away. She did not need to be thinking about failed erections. It was thanks to Kanae she even understood what they were talking about. Moko-san, in a fit of annoyance at Kyoko's nativity, had sat down and had "the talk" with Kyoko.

What had commenced had been the most embarrassing six hours of Kyoko's life. She had only made it though because Moko-san had challenged her to study the subject with the same focus as she would a new role. After all, Kyoko could be put in situations where not knowing about sexual innuendos and terms could cause dangerous misunderstandings or very public embarrassment. Both of which were important to avoid. So, she had learned everything from the medical terminology to much of the slang associated with sex and foreplay.

She had also sealed those lessons into a box in her brain, never to be taken out ever again…until this conversation had kicked it over, the contents spilling like scattered coins drawing attention from every point in her brain.

"Come on," said Bow-san, poking the top of Kyoko's head. "You can't be that pure. You were the one that was going to have sex with a man you didn't love just for convince."

The statement was so wild it pulled Kyoko from her spiral. "What? When did I say that?"

"At the beginning. When you said you were only marrying for a tax break. Or did you forget that when men and women get married, they tend to have sex."

Kyoko blinked once. Twice. Then stopped blinking altogether.

"It may have slipped my mind."

Sexy-chan let out a roaring laugh. "I knew you were a virgin."

"It's not a bad thing!"

"Not at all." Sexy-chan pulled a dress from one of the piles around them, holding it out to Kyoko. "Here. Put this on."

Intrigued, Kyoko took the hanger, letting the skirt unfurl to the ground. It revealed a slinky black dress, one of the kinds with a neckline so deep it was in danger of showing your belly button. It also appeared to have no back.

"Absolutely not," said Kyoko holding it away like it was a Texas-sized grasshopper.

"You're just trying it on," said Sexy-chan, pushing it back. "Look, you're the one that wanted to learn how to flirt, right? Well, most of flirting is about confidence. The commitment. You're so freaking out about sex I bet you have a hard time using your body to your advantage."

"I'm not sure that's a good way to phrase it," said Sakura.

"Oh, hush. Look. You and Ren will have sex one day. You need to get comfortable in your own body or else your wedding night is going to be as disastrous as it was for Hana-san and Daichi-san."

"I've got time to figure it out," said Kyoko. Years, if it was Kyoko's choice.

But Sexy-chan shrugged. "Do it for yourself then. You deserve the chance to feel sexy every now and again. It's empowering. It doesn't have to be for a man. It can be for yourself."

Kyoko looked from Sexy-chan to Sakura, then to Bow-san. The other two looked like what Sexy-chan had said was common sense.

Kyoko swallowed back the feeling of humiliation and embarrassment. It allowed other feelings to creep into the sun. Feelings she had slammed the door on after the talk. The same feelings she didn't let near Ren for fear of polluting their relationship with the unholy desires and fantasies such feelings would inspire.

But since their relationship was en route to matrimony, and eventually entanglement, was it okay to let them out a little bit? It wasn't like she was going to have sex right now. Or soon. Or within the next year. It was just a dress. She'd worn even sexier and more revealing things for past roles.

The difference was that those had been roles. Kyoko had taken on a separate identity that fit into those clothes. Would it be okay for "Kyoko" to indulge? How would "Kyoko" feel wearing such things? Empowered? Confident?

Truth was, she could use some confidence. She needed it. To get to the point that she could tell Ren her feelings. If just wearing this could help her get outside of her shell and gain some confidence, it may be worth a try.

She wavered for exactly five more seconds.

"Fine," said Kyoko, earning a cheer from Bow-san. "Just this one dress. And no pictures. And then we're done."

"Here, put these on as well." Bow-san shoved a handful of accessories Kyoko's way, looking much too prepared for this. When Kyoko mentioned this, she shrugged. "Ashya-san and I had a bet to see if it would suit you. I don't think you can pull it off. She thinks differently."

"I'm sure Kyoko-san can look sexy," said Sexy-chan. "You saw her in that wedding dress."

"Yeah, and it was as fluffy as cotton candy. Who wears a traditional garb in this day and age?"

Kyoko locked herself in the changing room, wishing it had a second lock just for extra precaution. She felt vulnerable just pulling on this slinky sexy dress, even if it wasn't the most revealing outfit she had ever worn. Everything sexy she had ever worn had been for a role. It had been someone else using her body to fulfill that role. Sure, it had been her, but it hadn't been as well.

She finished the meager zipper in the back, looking at her reflection.

First problem, the bra had to go. The V neckline, though not to her belly button, did extend well past the bra band. She shrugged out of it, feeling skittish as she tugged herself into place to make sure nothing fell out. She took a second look, spinning slowly to take it all in.

Fit-wise, it hugged her perfectly. The beaded waistband had no gap, the fitted mermaid style hinting at curves her lithe body barely had. The slit went clear up to the top of her thigh, threatening to show her panties with every step but never doing so. She slipped on the large sparkling silver earrings and strappy shoes provided for her, noting that the choice complimented the style of the dress well, even if Kyoko was completely wrong for it. Her hair and makeup were just not right for this look. She looked like a girl playing dress up.

"I don't think you can pull it off."

"I can look sexy," grumbled Kyoko, tugging at her hair. She'd done it before. Then she remembered

The makeup!

In a flurry of movement, Kyoko snatched her purse, rifling through the makeup from the bridal show she'd never removed. She didn't want to do too much, but just a little should help. She applied eyeliner to her top lids, giving herself a touch of mascara and lip gloss as well. Her hair was all wrong with its fly-away look, but a splash of water from her water bottle helped her hair lay flat, parted more like Natsu's to the side, and slicked down. She stood up, the small pieces transforming her into someone else entirely.

She looked… good. Stylish. From an objective standpoint, the whole ensemble was well done for short notice. But was it her? She didn't quite see herself in the mirror. She stood too prim and straight and yet awkward. Uncomfortable.

You can do this Kyoko, she thought to herself. Ren likes how you look. He said he finds you attractive. And he is in love with you.

She blushed all the way to her neck and then some but didn't look away. She would conquer this. She would walk out of that room and show herself that she could do this. She could transform into someone desirable.

It was insane how emboldening that was. The knowledge that Ren found her attractive. Her flush slowly disappeared. Her back remained straight but she lost the awkwardness. She was very aware of the plunging neckline and backlessness of the dress, but it didn't feel wrong. It felt…sexy.

She felt sexy.

And she didn't even have to be Natsu-san or Setsuka-chan to achieve it.

She flushed again, but not in embarrassment this time. In excitement. Sexy-chan had been right. It did feel empowering.

Kyoko pushed the door to the changing room open, stepping out.

Four heads whipped around to see her, eyes widening. In the time it had taken to change, Hime-san had found her way to the group. Her mouth dropped open the second she saw Kyoko. Sakura full on blushed all the way to her hair roots.

Kyoko finished stepping out, letting the door shut behind her. She may or may not have slipped in some of her model walk into the two steps.

"Well?" said Kyoko, feeling a little shy at their scrutiny. "What do you think? Who won the bet?"

Bow-san put a hand to her mouth, obviously stifling a laugh. She looked too pleased for someone who had clearly lost. Or was Kyoko delusional and she wasn't sexy at all? Were they laughing at her?

I was wrong. I look frumpy, I know it.

She was on the verge of breaking down when she heard a sputter.

Turning around, she only now noticed two other people who had been previously hidden behind her changing room door.

Ren and Suzuki-san were both staring at her. It was Suzuki-san who had done the sputtering, but Kyoko didn't even notice.

Her gaze locked onto Ren. He looked as frozen as she felt. His expression was completely impossible to detect behind those glasses, but she could see his jawline. It was tight, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed. His hands curled into fists and veins bulged from his hands.

To say Kyoko was not prepared for this would be a massive understatement. If she could disappear in a puff of ninja smoke, she would have thrown it five hours ago. This was not how she wanted to see Ren after her revelation of his feelings for her. Unexpected. Sudden.

Barely clothed.

She was suddenly much more aware of her lack of bra and the healthy amount of side-boob he likely was exposed to.

Kyoko promptly aborted from her consciousness. This was no place for Kyoko. It was time to let someone else take the reins.

Ignoring the comments being thrown at her by the other women, Setsuka-chan stalked toward Ren. Her every slow and deliberate step exposed streaks of her creamy thighs that she was sure his eyes followed. She came to a stop, happy that she had to look up at him even in her heels, placing a hand on her cheek in a demure pout.

"Like what you see?"