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Kyoko stepped into her room at the Daruma-ya one Friday afternoon and froze. There was something different about it - something had changed since she'd left it that morning. She'd been in a rush that morning, so she'd made a bit of a mess… but now it was perfectly tidy. Too tidy. And okami-san never came into her room to clean, so….

It had to be a brownie.

Most people's first conclusion upon finding their room had been mysteriously cleaned would not have been that a faerie had been there. Most people would have been wrong.

So Kyoko did what she knew was best, and left out some honey for it before turning in for the night. In the morning, the honey was gone. She let out a little squeal of excitement when she saw the empty jar. She'd been chosen by a brownie! Oh, she needed to tell someone - but it was too early to call Moko, and besides, she didn't believe in fairies.

She really shouldn't call. But she did.

LINE BREAK

Ren, halfway through his morning coffee, was surprised to see a call from Kyoko this early on a Saturday morning. A jolt of panic shot through him, his heart stuttered, and he fumbled to answer. "Mogami-san?"

"Tsuruga-san! I have great news!"

She sounded so bubbly that his heart skipped for an entirely different reason. "And what would that be?"

"There's a brownie in my room!"

"That's… cool?" he guessed. Sweets never did much for him. "Did the okami-san make it?"

"No, no, not a chocolate brownie! A household brownie - a fairy!"

"You'll have to enlighten me. I'm not up-to-date on fairy lore." Had he been less of a sap in love, he would have regretted these words, as Kyoko spent the next twenty-two minutes explaining everything she knew about brownies in detail. However, since he was sappier than a bear high on maple syrup, he had a great time listening to his beloved info-dumping.

At least, he did until Kyoko cut herself off mid-sentence with a gasp. Then the worry came back "What is it? What's wrong?"

It took her a moment, but then she whispered, as if saying it too loudly would break the spell, "What if Corn sent them?"

He choked on his spit and went into a coughing fit that promptly distracted Kyoko.

LINE BREAK

That night, the little brownie snuck down to the kitchen to get what Kyoko had requested. After all, she'd left out such delicious honey and even some cream for them, and had always been a friend to the Fair Folk. So it only seemed right to grant her wish.

LINE BREAK

Kyoko ran up to Ren, wide-eyed, in an LME hallway the next afternoon, practically vibrating with excitement. She was vibrant; she was so eager to tell him what she'd found that morning that she was almost floating.

Then she remembered where they were, and snapped into her usual formal bow. "Good afternoon, Tsuruga-san!"

He hid his huff of laughter. "Good afternoon, Mogami-san. Did something good happen?"

All pretense dropped at that point, and sparkles began to fill the air around Kyoko. "He did send them! The brownie - they delivered a sign this morning!"

"What?" Ren glanced around and then ushered Kyoko into an unused room. He had a feeling this was going to go sideways, fast.

"Corn!" She was beaming so brightly that it took him a moment to understand what she meant.

"Corn?"

"He sent the brownie, and I have proof!" She rummaged in her bag for a moment, then pulled out a gallon-sized ziploc bag that held a single ear of corn. She'd put it in there to keep it safe. "Look what I found next to my pillow this morning!"

His heart dropped. It was one thing for Kyoko to believe that there was a little fairy helping her in her room. It was another entirely for a vegetable to show up in her room like that. It was almost like someone had been listening to their conversation. Did someone bug our phones?

No, if their phones had been bugged, the public would be going mad about their phone calls. His heart sank even deeper as he realized that it meant that someone must have a listening device of some sort in Kyoko's room. Did she have a stalker?

"Tsuruga-san?" Her brow furrowed. Didn't he realize how wonderful this was? Corn had sent her a message! A sign that he was still with her - still watching over her. She cradled the vegetable to her chest.

He switched on a bright, fake smile. It was the best he could do to mask his worry. "That's wonderful, Mogami-san."

"...Why are you mad at me?" She shrank down a little more, hugging the ear of corn. That smile was never good.

The smile dropped as quickly as it had appeared. "I'm not mad." Shit. He hadn't meant to scare her.

She didn't meet his eyes. "Then why were you smiling like that? All I did was tell you that Corn sent me a message!"

"I… I'm sorry. I'm just worried that something else might have left you that ear of corn after hearing you talk about him." He flexed his fingers, wanting to reach out and comfort her, to make up for his mistake. "I didn't want to frighten you with that thought, not when it made you so happy."

To his surprise, she considered this seriously for a moment, then met his eyes. "Like a member of the Unseelie Court?"

Unsure of how to bring her line of thinking back to reality, he replied, "Something like that. You might want to check your room for signs of any tampering."

"Hmm…" She tucked the ear of corn back into her bag, humming thoughtfully. "It's going to be tricky. The brownie's left signs of magic already… and I don't want to scare them off if I set up protections against Unseelie fae."

Which is how, somehow, later that afternoon, Ren found himself climbing the steps to Kyoko's room at the Daruma-ya. He could feel taisho's stare on his back, as sharp as the knife the man had been holding when Kyoko explained why Ren needed to come up to her room with her. He hadn't had a chance to explain to the man that he was just going to check for hidden cameras or listening devices. He really wished that he had. Even the normally friendly okami-san had seemed concerned when Kyoko led him up the stairs.

Kyoko, for her part, had squeaked and slammed the door on him just when he was about to enter the room. He knocked, confused. "Mogami-san?"

A loud ripping sound echoed through the door. "Just a minute! I - I need to tidy up real quick!" He had no way of knowing she was frantically ripping both his and Sho's posters off the wall and shoving them into her rolled-up futon. There was no way in hell she was letting him see those. Once they were properly out of sight, she let him in, a little disheveled. "Sorry about that!"

He just chuckled a little and, before he could stop himself, reached out to tuck a stray hair behind her ear. She promptly turned into a tomato and teleported to the other side of the room. "A-Anyway!" she squeaked. "I'll start looking over here."

Ren did his absolute best to not feel creepy about looking into every nook and cranny of Kyoko's bedroom… and failed. Especially given how nice everything smelled. It was just so cozy in here, so Kyoko. She even had preserved the Queen Rosa flower he'd given her. That had to mean something - no. He shook his head, forcing himself to focus. He needed to check for anything that a real creep might have snuck in here. That thought was sobering enough that he was able to push the fact that he and Kyoko were alone in her room out of his mind.

Kyoko was having a significantly harder time doing so. Oh god oh god oh god I hope I cleaned well enough. She wasn't even sure what to look for in terms of remnants of Unseelie fae magic - she'd only ever dealt with Seelie fae, like Corn. And really, everything pointed towards this brownie being a member of Corn's court. After all, he'd sent her that sign.

"Do you think he meant for me to eat it?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her. "What?"

"The ear of corn. Do you think Corn meant for me to eat it? Or would that be rude?"

"I'm… not super familiar with the etiquette surrounding gifts from fairy nobility, but, uh… if I was Corn, I'd say that you should." He immediately wanted to kick himself. If I was Corn. Really smooth.

She nodded thoughtfully as she went back to her search. "Maybe I'll make stir-fry…."

He crossed his arms, forcibly holding himself back from reaching out to her again. She had no right to be that cute when talking about a vegetable. Get a grip, Kuon. He forced himself to turn and resume his inspection of the ceiling tiles, looking for any aberration.

The brownie watched with amusement as the two systematically combed through the room, looking for entirely different things. They hadn't been sent by anyone, but if it brought this Friend of the Fae comfort, then they weren't going to dissuade her. Though they weren't sure about her friend. He was hiding something from her, and the fae didn't like liars. Still, he seemed to have her best interests at heart.

…that did not stop the brownie from charming his phone alarm to go off at three in the morning for the next seven days. Seelie or not, most fae have a trickster streak.

Ren, unaware of his sleepless fate and content that there were no hidden microphones or cameras, wrapped up his search after about thirty minutes. "I guess it's as you said, Mogami-san. I didn't see anything suspicious."

Kyoko sat back on her knees. "I didn't either. I'll have to leave out some extra honey tonight to make sure they're not offended."

Ren made a mental note to buy a jar of honey and leave it in her locker. He still wasn't convinced of fairy magic - maybe she sleep-walked to get the corn? - but it couldn't hurt to indulge her a little. "Well, I should be heading out."

"Ah!" She scrambled to her feet and bowed. "Thank you for your help looking, Tsuruga-san!"

"It was my pleasure, Mogami-san." He graced her with a smile, not knowing it turned her insides to goo.

He made his exit, shivering a little when he walked past the kitchen doorway. Taisho appeared to be sharpening every knife he owned. Ren was very glad they'd left Kyoko's bedroom door open.

On his way home, and as he struggled to fall asleep that night, Ren knew that he'd have to tell her soon. Not tonight - she'd been too happy for him to burst that bubble. But someday, he would have to tell her. And then maybe she'd smile at him the way she had at Corn.

Someday, she would. But for now, Ren would wake up at three in the morning, confused as to how an alarm had been set. And for now, Kyoko would pin his poster back up on her wall - and hesitate to hang up Sho's.