Chapter 1: Of Closed Doors & Misunderstandings

"Moko-san! Psssst!" Kanae rolled her eyes as she kicked her friend sitting opposite her in the LME central cafeteria.

"What?" She said not unkindly. They were having a quick lunch break and Kyoko had begun to act strangely.

"Tsuruga-san is here." Kanae glanced up from her food to Kyoko and then towards the direction in which the actress was trying not to stare. There sat Tsuruga Ren, dressed in a casual suit with his ever faithful manager, in the midst of what seemed to be a serious meeting. Or it would have been had it not been for the fact that Ren was staring at Kyoko, an unreadable expression on his face. Kanae was only just able to keep the grimace off her face. This idiot. She thought. Probably doesn't even register the fact that he's staring at her.

"So?" She replied evenly. It wasn't her problem if Kyoko couldn't his come ons. She was bored of this conversation already and wanted to go back to her food. It was her first love after all.

Kanae was wrong about one thing though. Kyoko did see Ren's stare and her mind was going a mile a minute with the possibilities. Now she knew he wasn't staring at her. (Who in their right mind would?) So it seemed only logical that the object of his observations would be Kanae since she was closest to his line of vision. Didn't Tsuruga-san say the girl he was in love with went to high school? Moko-san could easily pass for one, since she's so beautiful and youthful! She just graduated last year after all. And he was probably guessing when he said she was 16, his deduction skills are somewhat lacking in the first place. Kyoko thought rapidly, deciphering the situation in front of her. She saw Kanae glance up at her and then Ren before answering blandly back. As she whispered to Kanae she saw them make eye contact and Ren awkwardly clear his throat and return his gaze to his conversation. When Kanae looked away, moments after Ren was watching them again, unaware that Kyoko was watching him. Kyoko saw it all, oh yes, and she understood what it meant. Just because she herself was love – uh – challenged, didn't mean that she couldn't see it in other people. Tsuruga-san didn't say she couldn't say anything to the woman he loved. Normally she wouldn't have done this, but sometimes, some people just need a bit of a shove in the right direction was all.

"Moko-san!" Kyoko said earnestly, as Kanae took a particularly large bite out of her lunch. "Tsuruga-san is in love with you!" She watched worriedly as Kanae began to sputter and choke, pounding her chest to get rid of the blockage. As she finally calmed, Kanae pinned Kyoko with an incredulous look.

"What? Have you actually gone insane?" She whisper yelled at the younger woman, who was grinning, mistaking Kanae's incredulity for shy denial.

"No no! It makes perfect sense! Every piece of evidence points at you? He found his Katsuki after realizing he loved you, that's why he lost control that ni-I mean day that we were practicing. He didn't see me, he saw you!" Kanae stared at Kyoko, unable to form a coherent sentence as she tried to process what the girl was telling her. She shook her head and gathered her plates and walking to the trashcan to throw them away, now acutely aware of the older man's stare. Kanae knew it wasn't meant for her but Kyoko's sparkling eyes were making her seriously self conscious. No doubt she was making up some ridiculous fantasy of princes and princesses. She was hoping that if she ignored Kyoko, this stupid idea of hers would just fade away into the back –

"Afternoon ladies." Kanae resisted the urge to smack the actor upside the head as she turned around to face him with a pleasent smile. Ren stood behind them, Yashiro in tow, smiling slightly.

"Good Afternoon Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko bowed deeply to greet her sempai, straightening so that she stood between Ren and Kanae, eyes flicking between them.

Ren glanced quizzically at Kyoko who had been making odd eye gestures at Kanae. Then he remembered that Kanae had been choking earlier.

"Oh by the way, Kotonami-san, are you alright? You looked like you were choking earlier." Kanae cringed at the question as she saw the triumphant look on Kyoko's face. He meant well, but he was REALLY not helping her situation, he was just going to give her the wrong idea!

"Yes," she gave a somewhat strained smile. "I'm fine thank you." Yashiro checked his watch suddenly and realized he had to make a call, at which point he excused himself, promising to return momentarily. As Yashiro left, Kanae realized that an orange haired woman seemed to be trying to make a break for it as well.

"Oi." Kyoko winced as Kanae's hand came down rather heavily on her shoulder. "Where do you think you're going? Kyoko looked behind her to see Kanae giving her a don't-you-do-it look, while Ren looked on puzzled between the two girls.

"I need to uh- go home – I have to ...i have to uuhhh water my cat. Yeah that's it, water my cats. Bye!" She quickly shrugged out of Kanae's grasp and fled, giggling. You may hate me now Moko-san, but you'll thank me later!

Kanae was left standing there, arm outstretched, watching her friend (and she used that term loosely) flee.

"Mogami-san doesn't have a cat." Came Ren's witty observation from behind her. Kanae rolled her eyes.

"How very observant of you Tsuruga-san."

The two shrugged and shaking their heads at the young woman's antics, they headed their separate ways.

Now, if it had ended there, Kanae would have forgiven her, but it wasn't to be. For the next month, Kyoko kept finding ingenious little ways to get her alone with Ren. From abruptly bailing when the three of them were talking to suddenly claiming that Kanae absolutely needed his help in completing a love me task, to pushing her into him. She had even almost shoved the two into an empty storage closet but had stopped upon seeing Kanae give her a look that effectively dissuaded her. Kanae had thought that that alone would have been the end of her shenanigans.

Boy, had she been wrong.

Half an hour ago, Kyoko had begged Kanae to accompany her to Ren's apartment, saying she needed help in carrying all the groceries up to Ren's home. Although she was suspicious, Kanae reluctantly agreed to come along. They had picked up the groceries and were standing in front of Ren's apartment door, when Kyoko suddenly remembered that she had left something important on her bike downstairs. Before Kanae could say a word, Kyoko thrust the bags at her and had disappeared in the elevator. That left Kanae holding five very heavy brown paper shopping bags. Kanae waited twenty long minutes when suddenly the door to Ren's apartment swung open to reveal a slightly surprised Ren. She was standing in front of his door with five HUGE bags, swaying under the weight. And she looked just as surprised as he felt.

"Wh-why'd you suddenly come out? I didn't knock or anything." Ren pulled out his cell phone and showed her his message screen.

"I got a text from Mogami-san." Kanae eyes widened slightly as she read the text.

Tsuruga-san, Moko-san is standing outside your apartment door. You're welcome."

Kanae vowed right then and there, that the next time she saw her, Kyoko would receive a beating she wouldn't soon forget. Ren seemed a little lost for words given the situation but realized that Kanae was buckling under the weight of the bags and hastily took them out of her grasp with practiced ease.

"Oh I apologize, here let me help." He motioned her inside the house, and Kanae, who could find no logical reason to reject him, half-heartedly entered, letting the doors swing shut behind her.

A/N: And first chapter done! Although the whole story is written out. I initially intended for it to be a oneshot, but I broke it up, otherwise the one shot would be HUGE. Reviews pretty please?