After lunch, someone suggested a game of volleyball. Kyoko opted to sit out, realizing that more than a few of them were tipsy thanks to the abundance of fruity alcoholic drinks. She stayed on the sidelines, content to watch. At least, until she was hit in the face with the volleyball. Jury was still out if it was on purpose or not. Watching Kimura and her little group of self-important witches laughing openly had not helped.
Extracting herself from the group, Kyoko walked along the beach instead.
Why was today just so exhausting? It felt like she was being stopped at every turn, unable to just enjoy a day out on the beach. If only Sakura wasn't busy flirting, then maybe Kyoko could vent some of her frustrations on the two-face nature of women.
Wait.
Wait.
She stopped, feeling horrible for even having the thought that had just flitted through her head. There was no way sweet wonderful Sakura could be just like them. The backstabbing two-faced snakes that pretended to be one thing and then oh no. Now the suspicion had taken complete form.
"Stop," said Kyoko, smacking herself lightly in the forehead. "She hasn't done anything to deserve this betrayal."
Because if Kyoko turned on Sakura for no good reason, then Kyoko would be the snake, not Sakura. Great.
She spotted something else that just made her day this much worse. Perhaps if she wasn't hyped up on frustration and nerves, she wouldn't have bothered.
Maeda sat alone at an unlit fire pit, drinking the exact same type of drink Kyoko had made during the game. The drink he had scored a zero.
Oh, this man needed to be put in his place.
She planted herself in front of him, hands on hips. Maeda stared impassively back, dressed casually in green swim trunks and a plain T. It was still weird not to see him dressed in formal attire. Even now he held an air of a businessman rather than someone out to play in the sand.
"Are you trying to make fun of me?" said Kyoko, gesturing to the drink. "Or are you just naturally an asshole?"
"According to you, it all comes naturally." Maeda sipped his drink pensively. "Hmm, not bad. I've never had this before."
And just like that, all her irritation at him was gone. There was something so liberating about directly confronting an irritant and not having the irritant give a damn back.
She plopped down next to him, earning a surprised look in return.
"What?" she said.
"Nothing." He returned to his drink. "Just surprised you chose to sit, considering your opinion of me."
"That's exactly why I sat by you. You're an excellent ward against any and all social obligations."
He hummed in response. "Sounds like someone needs a drink."
"Can't. Underage." Even if the law regarding that was little more than words to Japan as a whole.
He eyed her again with that strange searching expression. Like she was a puzzle he was trying to piece together.
"I'm surprised you care," he eventually admitted. "The producers won't, and I doubt the police would press charges despite it being documented on camera."
"I'm an employee of LME," she stated. "I need to set a good example for my company." Otherwise she'd be scolded again by Ren… maybe. Or maybe he wouldn't care.
At this, Maeda smirked. "And your eccentricities are doing such a fine job of representing them."
She had a sudden desire to knock the drink from his hand but decided the ground deserved better than that.
"Hey, that's just my natural state of being," she said. "Kind of like of you being an asshole. They knew what they were getting when they hired me."
Plus, Lory was the most eccentric of the lot of them. It would be like a very black pot calling the kettle gray if they didn't hire Kyoko for her few abnormalities. Maeda chuckled, apparently amused by something she'd said.
With nothing else to say, they sat in silence, Kyoko happy to let her mind sink back into her troubled thoughts.
Now that everything had settled a little, she felt bad for blowing up at Ren. She also wanted to dig her head into the sand and scream for an eternity or two for letting her feelings slip. Freaking, if Ren put two and two together and figured out she loved him, that would be the true end of their friendship. She should have just kept her mouth shut and married someone else.
Except it's not entirely my fault. Ren wouldn't just leave me alone. Why is he so insistent? He could have anyone as a rebound, why bother with me? There are other women out there that would have better press. I can't be the only person he respects.
And for a second, she indulged in the idea that Ren respected her so much, he was willing to trust no one else but her with this. But no, she'd forgotten. He didn't know she loved him. He thought it would be a mutual love-less marriage between two consenting adults.
This was getting confusing.
She was just on the cusp of sending herself into a spiral of depression when Maeda spoke again.
"I just don't understand," he said.
"What?"
"The appeal of the beach." He gestured with his drink. "You can get sun at home, the sand gets everywhere, and the water is a cesspool. Anyone with a basic knowledge of sanitation should be disgusted by this place."
Taking a second to consider him, the comment felt odd. She might have seen it coming from a place of arrogance but now, it just felt like he was confused. Mind, he said it with a touch of disdain. It was Maeda the asshole after all.
"That's because you don't have an imagination," said Kyoko. "Aren't you the young heir to a large hotel chain? There have to be some hotels with a beach front."
"Lots. Doesn't mean I have to like them."
"Why are you even here anyway?" She was being unreasonably rude at this point, and it felt amazing. Talking to Maeda with no care of the repercussions, she felt more honest than she had in a while. "I feel like some fancy rich family like yours would just arrange your marriage."
"They did."
"What?"
Then what the heck was he doing here poisoning the show with his bad attitude? Despite her staring, it didn't look like he was going to answer. He remained resolutely poker-faced.
Shouts suddenly stole her attention. Near the volleyball net, a man had gotten on one knee, proffering a ring to one of the women. She placed a hand to her red cheeks, nodding excitedly as tears fell down her face. Everyone was clapping and offering congratulations to the newly engaged couple. Truly a beautiful scene with the beach framing the occasion.
Kyoko herself was smiling when Maeda spoke.
"It was supposed to be a big publicity stunt." His gaze was on the newly engaged couple, bitter and angry. "We both turn up on the show, fall in love and get married. Too bad my parents didn't anticipate my future bride falling in love with a different man and leaving with him in the first week."
Maeda set down his empty drink, staring at his hands. "Well, my mother got the publicity she wanted. Come the release of this show, everything will be out in the open."
Suddenly, his bitter grumpy attitude toward everyone made a lot more sense. It wasn't an excuse by any means, but it was a reason. The happy shouts of an impromptu celebration drifted around them.
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Kyoko, because she was. "Did you love her?"
"Not even a little bit."
There was that at least. A broken heart was a heavy burden to bear. Though, judging by the size of Maeda's arrogance, his bruised pride probably stung just as bad.
It softened her opinion of him, if only a little. She knew what it was like to have someone throw them away. In that she and Maeda were the same.
"Where did you learn to act like that?" said Maeda suddenly, his dark eyes on her.
"Like what?" He seemed to have recovered quickly.
He gestured to her hands placed demurely on her lap, legs together and feet flat on the ground.
"Your posture is impeccable," he said. "Your manners, bow, even when you were mixing the drinks. You've had training."
"I've trained myself in a lot of things as an actress." It wasn't exactly a lie.
Maeda seemed to see straight through it anyway.
"It's ingrained in your every move," he said, "It's incredibly rare to see someone of your age with manners like yours, unless you've worked closely with an Okami of some sort. I'm sure you'd do a passable job performing a tea ceremony."
Passable?
"If you learned to control your more energetic outbursts, I'm sure we could arrange something. Your posture alone is better than most." He placed a hand to his chin in thought. "It would be a different sort of publicity, marrying an actress, but at least I could leave this show a week early."
"Excuse me, just. Stop, a second." Because Kyoko felt like she was going crazy. Was Maeda, the biggest A-hole in this show proposing exactly what she thought he was?
Mercifully he did stop, having the audacity to look as if he didn't understand her confusion. There should be a limit on how much of an aggravating prick someone could be.
"I'm confused," said Kyoko. "That, or going crazy because it sounds suspiciously like you're suggesting we get married."
"How is it crazy? You're not here to get married for love, neither am I." Did everyone know that about her at this point? "You're as good a choice as any. All that would be required of you is to accompany me to different events and remain faithful. I'm not at home much so we wouldn't see each other often and you could live comfortably on a monthly salary. It would be more embarrassing to leave the show without getting married."
Kyoko pointed to the cameraman quietly recording the entire exchange. "You're right, because this is such better publicity than going home empty handed."
"We could doctor a different proposal for the cameras," he said. "I didn't sign the show's contract without adding a few of my own conditions. If they post any content I don't approve of, I can sue them. At least, to a reasonable degree."
Of course he could. Because he was a crazy businessman. It also meant that his ex-future wife had probably blabbed their planned publicity stunt in some way that Maeda couldn't touch. She briefly wondered if it had been out of spite, or just unintentionally done.
But the most unfortunate thing about all of this is that it sounded like the perfect deal. Exactly what she had been looking for. A loveless marriage with other perks. Too bad it was coming from the most unlikable jerk to walk the earth since Fuwa Sho.
No, wait, Maeda was older than Sho. That would make him The Original A-hole.
Seriously, Maeda had somehow made her dream deal sound like a slap to her pride.
"No," she said, her voice cracking in disbelief and anger. "Just. No. Maeda-san, you told me during our first meeting that you could never respect anything about me. What kind of woman do you take me for? You think I'd tolerate that now just because you throw around words like publicity and monthly salary? I'd rather marry anyone else than someone as gauche as you."
But despite her verbal abuse, Maeda's didn't hesitate with his response. "If that were true then you'd have accepted Ren-san's proposal."
Oh, this man. He had no idea what he was talking about. Wounds still throbbing caused heat to rise to her neck.
"I'm surprised you know about that," she said, choosing to veer away from any of her personal feelings on that matter. "You don't have any friends on this show."
"You're a common topic, Mogami-san. People seem to enjoy dragging your name through the mud, along with Ren-san's."
She snorted, thinking about the eventual reveal of who Ren was. Oh, people were going to flip when they realized the nerd they were bad mouthing was Japan's sexiest bachelor.
"Look," and suddenly Maeda seemed uncomfortable. Which was more than a little freaky. "I… did behave badly at our first meeting, and I apologize for being harsh."
"But not for the things that you said," said Kyoko. "Those were your real opinions."
At his silence, she took that as a yes.
Kyoko stood, brushing some of the sand off her calves. It was time to reapply her sunscreen.
"I may not care if I have a loveless marriage," she said. "But I do care if my future husband doesn't respect me or is the type to look down on my friends. Because they're the only true family I've got."
And she could just imagine the reaction Maeda would have to Kanae, Lory, Maria, and everyone else she cared about. Hint, it would not be good.
"Good luck Maeda-san," said Kyoko, surprised at how calm she felt as she waved goodbye. "I hope you find someone that can match your unreasonable standards."
She left, determined to find someone that wasn't going to stress her out.
The day continued into the evening. One of Maria's henchmen pulled Kyoko aside to force her to do an impromptu interview, which Kyoko really didn't want to do.
"Take a look at it this way," said the frustrated cameraman. "Everyone saw that you and Ren-san had a fight in the water, but we couldn't really tell what was being said. This is your chance to tell your side so people don't make something up."
But she couldn't tell them, because Ren probably didn't want everyone in the world to know he loved someone. So instead, she worked on damage control for herself. The female viewers would probably hate her at this point of the show for a variety of reasons attributed to Ren.
"We had a fight," said Kyoko. "I'm trying to help him see that marrying me is a big mistake. He should be with the person he loves."
At the cameraman's insistence, she opened up a bit.
"I... wish we hadn't. I don't like fighting with him. But I honestly don't know what else to do at this point. He's the most stubborn person I've ever met! There's a reason he is the best actor in Japan and that's because he's too stubborn to just take the hit and quit. He pushes ahead, knocking down all obstacles because he can't keep his nose in places it doesn't belong."
And once again, she'd ranted for a bit about Ren's more infuriating and wonderful attributes.
Woops. She really needed to watch what she said. Otherwise she wouldn't have to tell Ren a thing. All of Japan would know her true feelings.
He asked a few questions about the competition and how she felt about Kimura cheating, to which Kyoko just sort of wanted to cry.
"Do you know how much makeup that was?" she said. "Ugh! If only I'd taken Bow-san's threat seriously. I need to be more vigilant. No more surprises! Next time I won't let Kimura-san or anyone else out of my sight."
Which was easier said than done.
An hour later, Ryou pulled everyone together for another game, this one for the men. It was a cupcake decorating competition.
Needless to say, Ninety percent of the men were laughably horrible at it. Kyoko, who blessedly sat next to Sakura, couldn't stop giggling at the mess their trio of men had made. After Kimura's incident, quite a few of them decided sabotage was A-Okay, as long as it wasn't overt. Icing got in more than one person's hair, especially in Daichi's section.
"Is this even edible?" laughed Sakura, rotating the cupcake she was supposed to be judging. "It looks like you murdered a leprechaun and only managed to bury half the body."
Ren, Kyoko quietly noted, was one of the few that presented a passable cupcake. A gummy bear in sunglass chilled against a surfboard under a tiny umbrella, complete with sprinkles representing the sand. Simple, but effective. Because of course Mr. Perfect would win. The prize, it turned out, was 50,000 yen worth of men's haircare and beard products.
She averted her gaze before he could feel her stare, instead concentrating on the cupcake Maeda had made. Because the staff probably wanted another juicy piece of drama, they'd put them in the same group again.
"Two point five," said Kyoko happily.
Maeda gave a flat stare. "You can't use decimals."
"Says who? I say two point five because it's both good and terrible. If you wanted a higher score you should have done a better job."
And that was the extent of their "drama." Maeda lost by half a point and Kyoko felt a very healthy amount of vindictive pleasure at being the deciding factor. The game concluded and all the winners got together for a photo, eventually calling over the female winners as well.
"I wish I hadn't left my good camera at the hotel," said Sakura, munching on one of the palatable looking cupcakes. "So many great pictures, but of course, I wanted to protect my baby from the sand."
"Maybe we could come back another time," said Ito-san. He'd been hovering around Sakura all day, his interest obvious. What was also becoming obvious was Sakura's lack of interest in him.
"Hmm, maybe," she said, keeping her eyes on the group.
Ito's eyes suddenly focused on her cheek. "Ah, you've got some…" He raised a hand, no doubt to brush his fingers against her cheek where some stray frosting had landed. Sakura leaned away, using her own hand to clean it up.
"Oh, thanks Ito-san," she said, then turned eagerly to Kyoko. "Want to see if they have any extra cupcakes we could decorate?"
Kyoko nodded immediately. She'd been more than a little envious of the men's choice of task.
Leaving Ito-san and the rest, they moved to the decorating supplies, helping themselves to the many unappreciated tools. She smoothed the frosting with the ease of an expert, providing the base for her masterpiece.
"I take it Ito-san isn't getting the hints?" said Kyoko.
Sakura let out a sigh, the kind that told of endless suffering and wo.
"To be fair, I'm the one sending him mixed signals."
"Why? Weren't you going to go after the person you like?"
Sakura's gaze rose, focusing on something before shaking her head. She slapped her spatula into the frosting as if she wished it harm.
"Not really, I'm too scared," she said, frustration rising. "And I don't want to mess things up between us."
Now that, Kyoko could understand. She'd done the same with Ren by letting just a little of her emotions through. Better to say nothing and keep a friendship than to say something and ruin everything.
"Well, if it makes you feel better, Dork-san and I are fighting again," said Kyoko.
"It does, and yet, and the same time, it doesn't."
Then something odd happened. Something Kyoko wouldn't normally have noticed, but her backstabbing sensors were on high alert. Sakura, who might have smiled fondly at the joke or offered a sympathetic smile, instead twisted her mouth into something odd. As if she were ashamed to be happy to hear of their argument.
That's when Kyoko noticed what Sakura kept glancing at: The men having their pictures taken. Specifically, one man stationed near the back due to the considerable height he was failing to hide.
The warning signals would not stop beeping inside her head.
Kyoko smacked her own cheek to manually shut them off.
"Kyoko-san?"
"Seems like we keep repeating our conversations," said Kyoko, fighting to keep her voice level. "Always about boys and marriage and crushes."
"Well, we are on a dating show, it's not too unusual." It was a mark of their familiarity with one another that she didn't ask about the outburst. "Then let's talk about something else. Hmm, how about why you decided to become an actress?"
"No." Kyoko pointed at Sakura with a toothpick. "That's a banned topic."
Sakura took it as a joke, her eyes lighting up. "What about family?"
"Nope, also banned."
"Then what about before with Maeda-san? You guys aren't going to kill each other, are you?"
"I thought we agreed not to talk about boys."
"True, my mistake."
Sakura fell silent, still smiling as she cheerfully decorated her cupcake. This was so nice. It didn't look like Sakura secretly hated Kyoko or wanted to use her as some sort of stepping stone. Their friendship was real.
Which just made things worse.
Sakura liked Ren. How did it take her this long to see it? It made total sense. It had probably started when Ren had saved her that first night by asking to be his dinner date. But Sakura thought he was unavailable because of his one-track desire to marry Kyoko. It also brought up her comment from earlier, about "not wanting to mess thing up between us". That put on a different meaning. Kyoko had assumed she was talking about her crush. But what if she had been talking about her and Kyoko? Could it be… could Sakura know that Kyoko liked Ren?
Oh.
Kyoko set her cupcake on the table, afraid her shaking hands might drop it. If that were true, it meant Sakura was keeping her feelings hidden for the sake of their friendship. Plus, from her perspective, Kyoko and Ren liked each other but were too stupid to get their act together and talk things through.
Which of course, was wrong, because Ren only wanted to marry her for other stupid reasons not including love.
"Are you done with yours?" said Sakura, interrupting Kyoko's mental break down. "Oh! You made a little fairy cupcake. Are you going to fill in the wings with something?"
"Sakura-san," said Kyoko. "Why didn't you just tell me about the person you liked?"
Sakura tilted her head. "I just did."
"No, about who they are."
It was a good thing Sakura wasn't holding anything or else she'd have dropped it. She jerked around to face Kyoko, eyes wide.
"Did you… How did you find out?"
Kyoko swallowed down her bitter feelings. "It wasn't hard to put two and two together."
"Oh." Sakura voice was small, face lowered. She returned to her cupcake, hands flitting around the confection without real purpose. "I guess I was more obvious than I thought. Sorry for... you know. Causing you trouble."
"It's not like you're not allowed to like him. He's a good person."
And now it was Kyoko's turn to lower her eyes. Because of course someone as good as Sakura would like Ren. She was an amazing person. Kind to everyone, beautiful with the figure of a model. She'd probably gotten a few marriage proposals already. And! If that wasn't enough, Sakura had no idea who Ren really was. She saw the awkward, messy, socially-inept nerd and didn't care. She liked him anyway.
Ren would probably like her too once he got to know her.
"Excuse me a second," said Sakura. Something in her tone made Kyoko look up. All surprise and shame were gone as Sakura narrowed her eyes at Kyoko. "Who is it that you think I like?"
Kyoko gestured uselessly out toward the beach. "The Nerd whose name I can not utter without being cursed."
That answer seemed to clear something up for Sakura. She stared with something akin to relief.
"No, Kyoko-san. I don't like Ren-san."
"You don't?"
And now this was just confusing. If not him then—
"Who do you like?"
"I like you, Kyoko-san."
Kyoko nodded. "I like you too, but I want to know who you like romantically."
In about the span of three seconds, too many surprising things happened for Kyoko to process. An impressive array of emotions danced across Sakura's face before settling on determination. She leaned in close, pressing a quick but not at all "friend-like" kiss on Kyoko's cheek.
Which of course, caused Kyoko to shut down.
Kyoko clapped a hand to the place she'd been kissed, mouth gaping.
"Uh." That was about the extent of her vocal capability right now. A healthy blush was spreading all the way to Sakura's ears, coloring them red.
"Sorry for the surprise," said Sakura, voice small.
This was more than a surprise. This was an earth-shattering holy hell what the crap just happened moment. A kettle was whistling non-stop inside of Kyoko's head as words failed to form.
Sakura liked her? In a romantic way?
There was so much rewiring that needed to be done in Kyoko's head to reconcile that idea.
And perhaps, had they been anywhere else Kyoko might have had that time. But not here. Not in a public place with other contestants and cameras and people all around them.
"Did you see that?"
"Oh my gosh, I can't believe it."
Dimly Kyoko registered a group of women standing nearby. Their loud chatter traveled easily over the silence between Sakura and Kyoko. As their own shock disappeared, true feelings came out in full.
"How surprising. We have one of those in our group."
"How gross. Guess people can really fool you if they want to."
Were Kyoko capable of thought, she would have defended her friend against the increasingly negative comments floating their way. But Kyoko . exe had failed, thank you very much, and needed a manual reboot.
It didn't stop her from witnessing Sakura slowly crumpling in on herself. Shame burned her cheeks as she took a step away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Sorry," said Sakura. "I'm just… I'll go now."
And Sakura fled, leaving her perfectly decorated cupcake behind.
It took someone physically touching Kyoko to start the reboot process. Hime had resorted to shaking her violently before Kyoko's surroundings finally returned.
"Kyoko-san, please, are you okay?"
Oh, she was okay all right. More than okay. Mostly, she was pissed after listening to unfiltered nonsense for the past some odd minutes. Those gossiping women in the corner hadn't moved, growing only in number instead of tact.
A colossus of demons rose out of Kyoko, large enough to stamp out the egos in front of her. Blind though the women may be to its presence, all conversation ceased as something else overtook them: All-encompassing fear. Kimura, who of course was the main perpetrator of the group, turned slowly toward Kyoko, face stark white.
Kyoko greeted her with a perfectly polite smile.
"Are you and your goblin-hoard done?"
Kimura swallowed visibly. "Uh."
"Because I'm about five seconds from going home to enjoy a good cursing session. What do you think about hair loss? Or eternal bad-luck? Oh, I'm sure blisters and boils would look good on you Kimura-san." Her eyes flickered to the others in the group. "All I need is to memorize your faces, get a hair sample from each and we should all be good to go. What do you say? Interested in having a little fun tonight?"
The women scattered.
Kyoko frowned at their retreat. Huh, she'd channeled more than a little of Mio right there. In her haste to get away, Kimura-san lost a shoe.
"K-Kyoko-san?"
Sweetheart Hime was the only one left. But rather than gazing at Kyoko with fear, her eyes shone with a brilliant light.
"That was amazing! You were like a cartoon villain. I thought you were going you turn into a dragon or something."
"Wrong story," said Kyoko, a little surprised at her reaction. "If I work with voodoo dolls and curses, I'm the Shadow Man."
"The Shadow Man." Hime spoke with reverence, the intensity of her sparkles growing.
Okay then.
"Did you happen to see which direction Sakura-san ran off to?" said Kyoko, because despite still being so thoroughly confused, she instinctually knew she needed to find Sakura.
"I think she went that way," said Hime, and pointed out toward the beach.
With her thanks, Kyoko took off in that direction. After a minute, she still couldn't see the brunette. She did see Ren and Dino talking so they probably could tell her if Sakura had passed by. Ignoring the twisting in her gut, Kyoko called out to them.
"Tsuruga-san! Have you seen Sakura-san?"
Based on Dino's widening eyes, she must look a sight, kicking up sand and still flushed from anger and Sakura's kiss. Ren, on the other hand, gazed at her with a guarded expression. She recognized it as one of his 'professional masks'.
She thought he wasn't going to answer.
Then he pointed to a small woodland path.
"She ran that way," he said. "She looked upset."
Kyoko wiped a shaky hand across her forehead. "Yeah, that was my fault. I... messed up. Thank you."
Before she was ten steps away from them, a tugging in her stomach had her stopping again. She spun around, bending at the waist toward Ren.
"Thank you!" she said again. She hoped he understood. That it wasn't just for telling her where Sakura went. It was for putting their feud aside so she could fix her mess. And just… for still being good to her when she was so awful.
His smile was strained when she rose, but it was there.
And feeling a small measure of hope, she ran along the path, trying to ignore the cameraman following her every step of the way.
Thanks for reading!
Holy crap Kyoko, just how many hearts are you going to break?
And my friend guest! Of course I read all the comments! Many many many many times over. They bring me life.
-Blushweaver