I'm alive! I did not abandon this fic, not even close. I have been happily planning more hijinks in the next chapters. Yay.

Since it has been a long while, I have decided to quickly go over the many OC's I have in this ridiculous fic. I tried to condense it as much as possible, but I'm so sorry, there are a million of them. (I never read fics with OC's, what was I thinking? Does anyone care about these guys besides me?)

First, the (important) women.

Tanegawa Sakura: Tall, sweet, Kyoko's first friend and recently confessed to her only to be rejected.

Kimura Kichi: Our resident crazy b*tch that hates Kyoko (Because Kyoko stuffed a mouse down her shirt). Likes Yoshio. In a feud with Sexy-chan and Bow-san over him.

Umeki Eri: Short, redhead. Kind of just angry all the time. Can't tell if she likes or hates Kyoko. It changes. Childhood friends with Daichi.

Bow-san: Overly cute and always wearing a bow. Thinks Kyoko's nicknames are hilarious. She gives the best advice. I'm totally serious. Real name is currently unknown. Likes Yoshio. Don't cross her.

Sexy-chan: Sex personified as far as Kyoko is concerned. Likes Yoshio. Not much else is known. Apparently, her real name is Ashiya.

Hime: Golden hair. Engaged to Suzuki after Kyoko accidentally helped them fix a misunderstanding. Now loves Kyoko. A little helpless and ditzy. Okay, more than a little.

Now the (important) men.

Suzuki Hansuke: Engaged to Hime. Good, nice guy, but a little plain vanilla. Went on an ice-skating double date with Kyoko only to end up engaged to the other girl.

Maeda Tetsuya: Not looking for love. Rich heir to a large hotel chain in Japan. Snobby. At first deemed Kyoko below him and unworthy to be married to him, then turned around and proposed to her.

Otsuka Yoshio: Don't know him, but all the girls fight over him.

Kiyota Daichi: Simple sunshine boy. Proposed to Kyoko multiple times, admires Kyoko, and talks so much about Kyoko it gets him in trouble with Eri. Always in the eternal friend zone with girls. Tries too hard.

Dino: Doctor. Told everyone that Kyoko called Ren "Tsuruga-san". Kyoko doesn't like him. Has heavily hinted he wants to marry her.

Ryou: Director of the show. TV personality. Owns too many leisure suits.

Those are the important people. I mean, there are more, but no thanks, not going through every single last side character. Y'all can context clue that crap. Now onward to the new chapter!

Despite Kyoko's most fervent wish, their time on the beach came to an end. It was already nearing the time for departure when they'd left in the first place and while she had known that, it didn't stop her from grumbling when she heard them being called for by one of the other staff members to "wrap it up and get back here ASAP."

She could imagine Maria saying that.

She also wished to just vanish into thin air, realizing with a jolt that the outside world still existed, and she had to leave with the knowledge that she'd just basically cuddled with Ren on the beach. And okay, "cuddling" may not be the right word as nothing but their shoulders and ankles would occasionally touch, but still! It was the principle of the thing. That had been some intense ankle touching.

Ren was the first to move, rising to his feet with easy grace and holding out a hand to help her up. She had a sudden flashback to her first outing on the show, sitting on the ice while Suzuki held out a hand for her. Back then she'd batted it aside to show her independence. Did that mean she was supposed to take it now?

Unsure what to do as she now had too many voices in her head telling her what the best choice was, - and a few of those sounded way too much like certain other female contestants on this show – so looked to Ren's face for an answer. His features were composed as they usually were, always a man of poise and grace, but there was an undeniable softness and something that looked like a request.

And suddenly she wanted to take his hand.

Again, she let her hand fall into his, allowing him to help her up before taking a moment too long to let go. There seemed to be a pattern going on here.

"Thanks," she said. "I guess we should go back?"

"Unless we want to be left here."

He made it sound like a good idea.

Unfortunately, if there was one trait the two of them shared it was professionalism. They had already started walking back before Ren had finished. Even if she hated the show, she knew better than to make others wait for her.

Walking brought back all her awkward messy feelings of exposure and inadequacy. Kyoko kept her eyes on the ground, mind buzzing as she tried to think of something to say. Or even better, something to do to start the wooing process. But nothing came, so she was left with a scrambled brain and too many questions.

Despite leaving immediately when called, they were the last to climb onto the bus. The second she got on, she was greeted by a few catcalls and smattered attempts at applause. That's when she remembered that entire scene on the beach before walking up to Ren to talk to him.

She turned to walk off.

"Aw, she's embarrassed!" she heard someone yell.

She'd have ignored them too and escaped if the very tall and broad shoulders of Ren Tsuruga hadn't stood in the way.

"I think we should run away," said Kyoko seriously. "Hail a taxi, call an Uber. Whatever we need to do."

She saw amusement behind his now hidden eyes. Dang, he was cheating with the glasses. And dang that look! She knew that look. It meant he was very unlikely to be helpful.

But the next second, he seemed to catch himself, slipping into a shy nerd as he ducked his head at the jeering.

"There's a seat in the back!" Kyoko heard Sakura's voice over the few who were still bothering them.

With no proper escape, Kyoko took the offered solution, quickly stomping down the strip to plop her butt into the seat. Ren followed more slowly, ducking his head at the people who asked if Kyoko's "flirting" had worked. Kyoko's face felt warm as Ren sat next to her.

Please don't ask me, please don't ask me. Please don't-

"So, what was all that about flirting strategies from Bow-san?"

Kyoko pulled a face, wishing she could teleport back home and into her bed. Preferably face down into the pillow to minimize the need for extra movement. At Ren's continued staring, she broke easily.

"So, uh, I might have been asking around how to flirt." She twirled one of the ties of her sundress around a finger, focusing on folding it and unfolding it to keep herself from exploding. "Because I really have no idea how to. And, you know, we're trying out all this. If you agreed to my idea, I had to get you to like me."

"But I already do like you."

"Not like that." Gosh, sometimes Ren was slow on the uptake. "You like and respect plenty of people as colleagues, but this isn't—I didn't mean... When I said we should, you know. I didn't mean only as friends."

And for a second she was hit with a panicked thought. What if Ren had misunderstood her? What if he thought she had meant "fall in love as friends or respected partners?" What if—

"I know," said Ren, his soft voice stopped her spiral. "You meant as romantic partners. Falling in love romantically."

She nodded, glad that was cleared up.

"Is that what the whole thing with Ashiya-san, Bow-san and the walkie-talkie was about?" he said.

Of course, he'd noticed that the women had been sent by Kyoko. She couldn't help a soft glare. "It would be polite to pretend that you didn't notice that. In fact, you could just forget about the whole thing. Wipe it from your mind and never bring it up again."

He chuckled, the warm sound rich and wonderful. "I'm not sure I believe you."

"Believe what?"

He gave her a long look, one that took in her stuck-out lip and smarting cheeks.

"Don't worry about asking them for advice," he said. "You're fine the way you are."

Okay, she knew now that asking Bow-san for help had been a bad idea, but that wasn't the problem here. She didn't want to be fine. She wanted to be alluring, dazzling or whatever type of woman that was needed to catch his affection. She'd blessedly gotten him to agree to this trial run as she'd call it, but now she had to make him want to see it to the end. She had to keep him.

No, she still had to catch him. He'd only agreed to fall in love, not that he saw her in that way. Baby steps Kyoko. First get him to develop feelings and then concentrate on strengthening those.

"It's easy for you to say something like that," she grumbled. "You're a natural playboy. The co-star killer!"

"You throw those titles at me as if they were knives." He grimaced, shaking something from his thoughts before continuing. "You see straight through me anyway. Always have."

"That's because you can't hide your cynicism from me."

"I guess you can sense a kindred spirit."

He didn't know how on the money he was with that one. Her Kyoko-demons loved him as much as she did.

"But I guess it is nice," he said suddenly. "We know each other well. We've seen so many different sides of each other that most people haven't. But even now, you continue still surprise me." His hand moved, and for a heart-pumping second, she thought he was going to take her own. But instead, it veered off course, resting on the armrest between them. His expression was fond as their eyes met.

"I can never guess what you're going to do," he said. "Whether it's in acting, or your everyday life, your energy is infectious. It's never a dull moment when you're around. I find myself entranced to discover new sides of not only you but also the new parts of me that you bring out."

That was the kindest way anyone had ever called her eccentric. It was also sweet and embarrassing, mostly because he appeared to mean every word. She'd often heard his sweet platitudes meant to tide over obnoxious co-workers, but this didn't have a hint of that insincerity. Did that mean he actually enjoyed her crazy antics?

I mean, he did say he was happiest when he was with me.

Kyoko placed a hand over her face and groaned.

"See!?" she stressed. "This is what I'm talking about! You can't say things that like so easily and say you don't have an advantage over me in this situation."

He gave her an innocent blink through the glasses. Which, yeah, reminded her too much of Corn right now.

"But you said your heart was stalwart against such words," he said. "It makes sense that I would need to double my efforts in order to be successful."

"Well, now it's different." And ugh, she was not pouting again. "I have lowered some of my armor, so you'd better be careful not to overdo it." At his quickly widening eyes, she felt the sudden need to explain. "I mean, I can't very well expect to fall in love while holding you at arm's length. It just, you know, doesn't make sense."

Her words appeared to have a deeper effect than she'd intended as Ren continued to stare. Why was he so surprised? Did he not expect her to put her all into this? In a flash of both embarrassment and desire to show the man just how serious she was, her hand shot out to grab the one he'd left on the armrest.

As her fingers circled around his hand, his magnified eyes widened even further. Too stubborn to back out now, she fought her internally screaming self as she kept eye contact.

Then his hand responded to hers, moving the fingers so that they interlocked instead.

Kyoko quickly looked out the window despite the darkness. The burning in her cheeks was back, threatening to creep down to her neck. All her focus was on the warmth of his hand between hers, how large and right it felt being there. She heard him give a soft hum in contentment.

"You really do know how to surprise me," he said. "But now that I know my words will have some effect on you, I don't expect to stop anytime soon."

Of freaking course, he didn't. Because he just couldn't be kind to her poor tender heart for once. Wearing her annoyance as a shield, she turned her gaze back on him.

"That's not fair," she said. "At least keep it to a minimum."

"But that would be counterproductive. You do realize what 'falling in love' entails, right? It means spending more time together, growing closer, and expanding on certain feelings. Flirting is a universally accepted form of courtship."

"And yet you claim I have no need to learn about it."

He cocked his head, gazing at her with a strange expression. He spoke his next words slowly as if choosing them carefully. "If you really feel like it's necessary, I would be curious just how you would plan to… win my heart, so to speak."

And now Kyoko was suddenly pissed. It sounded like he didn't believe she could do it.

Kyoko jabbed a finger at his chest, watching his wince with satisfaction. "Just you wait, Tsuruga-san," she hissed. "I'll quickly surpass you and your stupid gentlemanly playboy flirting. I'll make you fall so hard, stairs will be an issue."

Rather than rising at her declaration of war, he broke out into a smile. One of his soft dazzling ones that made her all gooey inside.

"I look forward to it, Kyoko-chan."

And didn't it feel like he'd already won? It wasn't until several minutes later that Kyoko had the mental capacity to realize just how embarrassing her declaration was. She proceeded to melt right there in shame, praying for the bus to crash into a building and free her from her stupid self.

"I need help. Like, serious mental help. Or a sedative. Maybe I'll be able to sleep through the entire show. Or maybe my prince charming will wake me up with a kiss and then he'll have no choice but to marry me. Because it is written in fairy tale law that when there's a kiss that breaks a spell, you have to get married. Because it can only mean that they're soulmates. Right?"

Kyoko pulled her head out from between her hands, staring at her empty room as if waiting for invisible fairies to give her counsel.

"Why can't I live in a world where soulmates exist?" she grumbled. "Like, where they have numbers that count down to the moment they meet, or a mark that matches their own? Then stupid shows like this wouldn't exist and stupid situations like this wouldn't happen. I'd already have a predetermined partner."

She stood up, walked over to her vanity chair and dragged it by its back legs into the center of the room. The chair was solid dark wood with leaf patterns carved into the frame. It was easy to imagine the chair as a fairy's thrown. Preferably, Corn's.

Kyoko draped herself on the chair, legs over the armrest as she imagined it was Corn seated in the center.

"I bet there's a universe where you're a real fairy prince," she sighed. "And I'm an average plain scullery maid. But despite this difference in position, we're soulmates. But of course, I can't tell you that, no matter how much you yearn for love."

Kyoko pretended to swoon, dancing off the chair and around it, theatrically hugging her imaginary Corn from behind. "I wouldn't be right for you. Our positions would be too different. So instead, I watch from afar in the town below, praying for your wellbeing."

She clapped her hands on the back of the chair, gripping it as if her life depended on it. "But then, a neighboring kingdom attacks. The Realm of the Beagles has declared war and the city is thrust into the center of the chaos. Our paths cross, and though I've promised to stay away, I find myself wavering as we help each other stay alive. Now I'm falling in love and you won't look my way because you think I'm no one special."

Her arms wound around herself, twirling dramatically at the tragedy of it all. "Then another woman shows up, beautiful and noble and everything you'd expect and deserve as a partner. And she appears to have the same soul mark! Now you think she's your soul mate and my resolve starts to— AHHHHH—!"

Kyoko stumbled back, kicking over the chair and sending herself sprawling to the floor. She just managed to hold back the expletives bursting from the tip of her tongue, trying to be considerate of the ten-year-old assistant director from hell standing in the middle of her room. Maria, all business in her pantsuit and braided hair, stared at Kyoko as if she was trying to determine what reality they were currently in.

"What are you doing?" said Maria.

Kyoko scrambled to her feet. "What are you doing? Trying to give me a heart attack? And stop coming into my room without permission. I'm glad you gave back all my shoes but that doesn't mean I've forgiven you for taking them in the first place."

"I didn't take all your shoes," said Maria, offended.

"Oh yeah? Then who did?"

"My assistant."

Had Maria not appeared totally serious about her answer, Kyoko would have exploded. Yet faced with Maria's blank, uncomprehending expression, Kyoko decided to leave that lesson on logic to someone else.

"I'm glad you stopped, whatever it was you were doing," said Maria." It was getting uncomfortable."

"Says the person who is not even supposed to be in my room."

Kyoko grabbed the chair, positioning it back under the vanity. It gave her the much-needed five seconds to calm her heart and cool her head. They were also wasted as Maria pipped up in an innocent voice.

"So… Ren-sama. You love him?"

Kyoko's fingers twitched on the back of the chair as heat flooded her face. Oh hell, Maria had seen that conversation.

"No," she whispered.

"Yes."

Kyoko could hear the devilish smile in Maria's smile. It was one thing knowing all of Japan was going to see it one day. It was another thing entirely having someone she knew confronting her about it while it was still fresh.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Kyoko firmly.

"But Onee-sama," said Maria, her voice gaining that whiney quality so appropriate for her age. "I just want to help you. I get why you didn't say anything. Actually, I have no idea, but it doesn't matter because you guys are going to work it out, right? You finally realized he loves you!"

Kyoko finally turned around, fighting the storm of embarrassment and discomfort pushing into her chest.

"I don't want to talk about it," she repeated. Especially not with someone still under the delusion that Ren loved her.

Maria was not dissuaded. "But you'll talk to Sakura-san and everyone else about it."

Kyoko shrugged. "They have experience and advice and actually understand my hesitation. You said you don't, so I don't see how talking to you about this would be helpful."

Maria looked thoughtful at this. "You make a good point." She nodded twice, then turned back to Kyoko with glittering eyes.

"Don't worry Onee-sama," said Maria. "I think I know what to do. I'll make this work. For you, for Ren-sama. And very importantly, for the show."

Wait. No, this didn't sound good.

"Just what are you—" But Maria was already out the door before Kyoko could finish her sentence.

Kyoko groaned in frustration. It looked like whatever resentment Maria had held toward Kyoko had disappeared. In exchange, it might have been traded in for something worse: Unnecessary Takarada Meddling. There should be warning signs for such things.

Well, whatever she was going to do, Kyoko would just face it tomorrow. For now, she'd devise a game plan for winning Ren's affection then enjoy a good night's sleep. Maybe a new voodoo doll would help her concentrate.

Kyoko had finished getting ready for bed and was just about to take out her sewing kit when someone knocked on the door. That one someone turned out to be three. They were all contestants dressed in PJ's and carrying an assortment of pillows and blankets.

"Can I help you?" said Kyoko

The one standing a little in front of the others gave Kyoko a wide smile. "Yeah, you can like, let us in? I'm ready to party, girl."

The woman's mood was too flirty and vibrant for this time of the night. It also didn't explain why they were here. Specifically, at Kyoko's door.

"What do you mean, party?" said Kyoko.

She tisked, rolling her eyes at the very reasonable question. "Slumber party, duh. Are we the first ones? I hope we are. I want to make sure and get a good spot for the cameras."

That was when Kyoko realized what was going on. She'd told Maria that she wouldn't talk about her thing with Ren because Maria had no experience. So she'd sent experience to go knocking at Kyoko's door with the excuse of an impromptu slumber party.

The inner girl screamed at her to let these women in. She had always wanted to experience a big slumber party. Doing individual sleepovers with Kanae was amazing but she'd only managed to bully her into having one official party with just them and that had needed to excuse of making Valentine chocolates. This would be something new. Something big. A full-scale, monstrous-sized slumber party with pillows and boy-talk and probably hair-braiding. Oh, Kyoko really wanted someone to do a makeover with her.

But this was also part of Maria's plan. Was the temptation of traditional girl-friend experiences worth springing whatever trap Maria might have in store? Should she fall to her own weaknesses?

It didn't really look like she had much choice. For in the five minutes it took for Kyoko to thoroughly run through the different pros and cons of each choice, four more girls had arrived, as well as a small camera crew. They were currently attaching a few cameras to the ceiling where some conveniently handy mounting gear was already available.

Someone tapped Kyoko's shoulder and she turned her cheek into a pointed finger.

"Gotcha," giggled Hime behind the hand that had poked her. The woman wore a white frilly nightshirt, her golden hair pulled into two loose braids. She looked like the epitome of slumber party attire. "You're spacing again. Are you nervous about hosting your first slumber party?"

"Hosting?" Kyoko croaked.

"Yeah, that's what the assistant director told me." Hime took Kyoko's hands as she gave mini hyperjumps of excitement. "I can't believe you've never had one before, but don't worry, it will be great. I mean, with so many people it's hard not to have a fun time. And as long as we have drinks and plenty of boy talk it will be great, you'll see. I'll help if you run into trouble hosting."

"Um, yeah. Troubles." Well done Maria. Well done. While a part of Kyoko really wanted to kick everyone out, she was too weak. This was probably the first and last time she'd be able to experience a slumber party like this. And what the heck, she'd had a long day. She deserved something nice for her efforts.

Besides, she really did need professional-grade help to win Ren's heart. What better way to validate the authenticity of flirting advice than testing it on a large group of experienced love-seeking women?

Kyoko met Hime's smile with her own, a plan forming behind it. "Thanks, but I think I got this. Should be fun, right?"

Hime's eyes glittered. "I think you mean 'should be full of drama'. I can't wait to see what happens when Nami-chan and Kendra-san get near each other. Those two have been going at it for a while, let me tell you."

And she did proceed to tell Kyoko all about it as the rest of the girls showed up. Only one woman didn't show, apparently already sound asleep from the excitement at the beach. Everyone else seemed happy to come in holding bottles of champagne, blankets and oh my gosh, was that a bundle of curling irons?

The room soon filled with fluffy pillows, snippets of gossip and the floral scent of freshly washed hair. Facial creams appeared, as did phones taking selfies with pouty unadorned lips only to be deleted immediately for not reaching the standard of perfection. Everywhere Kyoko looked was another miniature shrine to femininity. She followed the chemical smell of acetone, finding a woman pulling out a small but elaborate set of nail polish and assorted equipment on Kyoko's dresser.

The owner of this dream set had long black hair pulled into a tall bun, high cheekbones, and delicate fingers that showed off an impressively detailed manicure. She was arguing with a friend over something when she caught Kyoko making her way over.

"You!" she said, waving a hand full of those beautiful creations at Kyoko. "You're the host, right? Which means you get the first swing at my professional skills."

"Is that how it works?" Kyoko grabbed the ottoman from her rocking chair and sat on it, plopping her hands on the desk. "Please tell me that's how it works. I've never had a manicure in my life."

That was apparently how it worked. At least for this woman. Kyoko's nails were soon prepped, buffed, clipped, moisturized, and polished. Or at least, with the first base coat, which was apparently a thing. She'd learned a lot about nail care in a short amount of time as the woman she'd inwardly dubbed Salon-chan gave an enthusiastic overview of the subject.

Kyoko was also distracted by the other occupants in the room. With so many people present, it was easy for attention to be diverted or for friends to yell something at each other from across the room. She found herself having a long in-depth discussion on floral arrangements as a dying art with a woman she'd never talked to before.

Eventually, Hime remembered her promise to help, forcing her way onto the ottoman with Kyoko so the two of them barely fit on the small thing.

"I like your choice," said Hime, nodding at the princess design of her nails. "Very classy."

"I think the word you mean is cheesy," said one of the women.

Hime gave them a playful kick in retaliation.

"Do you think it's too immature?" said Kyoko. The last thing she needed was to remind Ren about their four-year age difference.

"Oh no, of course not," Hime insisted. "Men love the cutie look, don't you know? It's all about being cute. That's like, Bow-san's entire MO."

"And yours," pointed out Salon-chan.

"Guilty as charged."

Okay then, being cute wasn't considered childish. Good to know.

"What else?" said Kyoko. "Any other pieces of advice for attracting a man's attention?"

The question caught Eri's attention, the woman sitting nearby. She promptly dropped her other conversation right in the middle, rolling on the bed to face them, head propped up with a fist.

"You're still going on about flirting advice?" said Eri with an annoyed sigh. "I thought the two of you had hooked up."

"We haven't hooked up," deflected Kyoko. "We're sort of on a trial run. I need to make him fall in love with me if you have any advice on how to do that."

Salon-chan gave a snort. "Hun, if we knew a surefire way, we wouldn't be here on this show."

Eri gave a long-exasperated sigh, rolling around more on the bed in a fit of annoyance. "I don't even know why you're going after the dork. He's like, a three, and you're at least a five."

"Now don't be mean," said Bow-san, the woman appearing beside Eri. She reached out and gave the redhead a light slap on the arm. "Kyoko has good skin, she's a solid six. I'm sure she could transform into a seven if she tried."

"I say a nine." Salon-chan gave Kyoko a wink. "I've got a professional eye for these things. And you are in show-biz so you can't be too ugly or else they wouldn't bother with you."

Kyoko was very confused about what these numbers meant. But she knew from Salon-chan's demeanor that she had received a compliment, so she gave a nervous laugh in response.

"Oh no, you don't want to be a nine," said Bow-san in a hushed urgent whisper. "Then all men can think about is sex. That, or they're too scared to even speak to your face. No, the best place to be is at a seven. Then they feel like you're within reach without hurting their ego. I myself chose to stay at a constant seven at all times, or an eight if it's for a special occasion."

"I appreciate your advice," said Kyoko, even if she wasn't perfectly sure what they were talking about. "But the flirting advice didn't really help from before. I sort of forgot everything the second we started talking. I need a more solid plan for winning Tsuruga-san's heart."

Bow-san snorted into her hand, muttering something about "Tsuruga-san." Based on the lack of reaction from the other women, that little "joke" had made the rounds.

"I don't think you really need much help winning 'Tsuruga-san's' heart," said another woman, making air quotation marks at the name. She hadn't made much of an impression on Kyoko yet, thus making it hard to find a suitable nickname for her. Kyoko had heard someone call her Mai, so that was probably the best name to use.

"Why do you say that?" said Kyoko.

"I mean, the man is obviously into you," said Mai. "Otherwise he wouldn't have stalked you so crazily. It's a little weird. Brings him down to more of a two in my book. Clingy men are just, ugh." She stuck out her tongue. Eri gave a loud and enthusiastic "Here here".

"Okay, sure," said Kyoko, hoping she understood enough of their discussion to make this relatable to them. "But pretend that I know something about him that brings him up to say, a fifteen for me? Then what would you say?"

"That you've got some strange taste," said Eri. "Which, I already knew, but it's nice for some confirmation."

"I'd start with trying basic things," said Salon-chan. "Like actually putting on makeup. Or using that salivating supply of designer clothes you've got in your closet. Seriously girl, can I try on some of your shoes?"

"When did you look in my closet?" said Kyoko.

In answer, Salon-chan busied herself with designing a little crown on Kyoko's pinky fingernail.

"She makes a good point." Bow-san tapped her cheek, looking Kyoko up and down. "You really don't bother with basic things, like dressing to attract."

"Makes me wonder why we even try," grumbled Eri, on her back and looking at the ceiling. "What with all the proposals she's getting. Maybe if I wear a sack dress, I'll have five by the end of tomorrow. Ouch! Stop hitting me you bow freak!"

It wasn't a perfect strategy, but it was worth a try. Ren had seen her in a lot of different outfits during different roles. Maybe she could find a style he liked on her best. Physical attraction was important, and Ren was the sexiest man she knew. It would help her confidence if she borrowed the power of Princess Rosa and the make-up kit Moko-san had given her.

It also meant she'd end up wearing the outfits Maria had given her.

It's for your once-in-a-lifetime shot at love, she thought to herself. Forget about your ego. They're just tools of the conquest. Don't think of how easily you were manipulated into using them.

"Alright," said Kyoko. "It's a good idea. I'll start with that." It wasn't perfect, but it was at least a plan.

Now I kinda want to write that soulmate AU. Because I'm a sucker and I acknowledge it.

Still due in less than three weeks. Let's see if I get the next chapter up before then.

Thanks for reading!

-Blushweaver