Kyoko had finished washing up a little while ago, but Ren just kept watching her and smiling, and she was kind of afraid to face the full power of that smile right now. Obviously, it was already messing with her brain. She waited, thinking he would get bored or something, but when it became obvious that he wasn't going anywhere, she decided to speak up. With her back still to him, she swallowed and started, "I'll, uh, just grab my things real and be on my way then." Her voice sounded strange to her ears and way too loud in the silence.

The mood was getting more and more awkward and she had no idea what to do, so she tried to slip past him quickly, but she couldn't help herself and glanced up at him. He looked like a little boy trying his best to pretend that he's not sad, and her heart squeezed in response. 'C'mon Kyoko, be strong. I need to get out of here so that I can study and got to Kimagure Rock. I may be in love with him, but I refuse to let it affect me like it did with Shotaro. I will not turn into some doe-eyed weakling that responds to his every beck and call!' She fortified her resolution and went to get her bag from the living room without risking another look at Ren, who followed along behind her.

Ren knew that she needed to leave to study, but he didn't want her to go anywhere. He wanted to just hold her in his arms as she talked to him about her latest role. He wanted to feel the vibrations as she laughed and just savour the warmth and feel of her like he should have last night.

She wouldn't even look at him as she put her shoes on in the front hall and he could feel panic rise in his chest. He needed to make sure that she was really his now. He needed to feel her in his arms. He needed to kiss her on more time. He needed her. Ren was reaching for her before his mind could even fully process what he was doing. He clutched her arm as she turned toward the door.

When Kyoko felt the large hand on her arm, she was surprised into turning back to look at Ren. As soon as their eyes met, she froze. No one had ever looked at her with such obvious longing. She moved closer to him, and he gave her a timid smile, hoping she had changed her mind. He looked so vulnerable, and for the first time, she realized that he felt as powerless as she did. If not more so since he had never experienced this before.

Kyoko looked down, breaking their connection, and Ren slid his hand down her arm, letting go in defeat. He didn't even know why he was being so desperate. They would see each other again soon. He would make sure of it.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me. You should get going. I wouldn't want to get in the way of your studies." He ran his hands through his hair, trying to feign nonchalance. She looked back up at him, trying to read his expression, scanning his face intently for something. She seemed to be deeply considering something and her eyes squinted in concentration.

'What should I do? Should I stay? I want to stay more than I ought to. It's obvious he wants me to stay, but if I don't study for my test now, I won't get a chance later because of Kimagure Rock. Even if I did stay with him for now, I would have to leave in a few hours and how would I explain that? I already said I don't have any filming today. No, it's best to leave now. It absolutely makes the most sense to leave now. I've already wasted a lot of time as it is.' Kyoko still hadn't moved even though her mind was supposedly made up.

"Kyoko?"

She nodded as if reaching a conclusion, and then quickly, before she could change her mind, grabbed his forearms and pulled him downwards, knocking him a little off balance, and then kissed his cheek, whirled around, and left, before Ren could even process what had happened. She had been red up to her ears and it left him with a rueful smile. Even though he was all alone, he could feel the kiss lingering on his cheek and it kept the loneliness at bay like a magic spell.

Kyoko tried to get back to the Darumaya as quickly as possible so that she wouldn't have any time to think about what she just did. It just reinforced how scary love could be. His bewildered look was so cute, though. She could hardly stop the smile on her face. In fact, she was nearly skipping as she approached the Darumaya.

However, she froze when she actually go to the door. What was she going to say to the owner? There was no way to avoid this, though, so she straightened her back and walked through the door as composed as she could.

The owner glanced over at the door, stilled for a fraction of a second, and then continued, without looking at her again. Kyoko approached him, and the okami came over to intervene. She directed Kyoko to follow her and explained, "I talked to him after you left, and really, I think he's just concerned. We love you like our own daughter, and we know you're very responsible, but you're still so young and we don't know if that man has your best interests at heart." Kyoko looked like she wanted to interrupt in order to defend Ren, but the okami continued, "It's obvious that you think the world of him, and I want to trust your judgement, but I think it'll take more time to convince my husband."

Kyoko was near tears by the end of it and the okami smiled. "I'm sure it'll all work out fine, but I wouldn't recommend showing up in just a man's T-shirt with a boy in tow again any time soon." She gave kind of a teasing smile at Kyoko, and Kyoko smiled back only slightly mortified.

She got to her room and got her books out on auto-pilot. She tried to focus, but a lot of thoughts kept popping into her head, and each time she managed to smother it and focus, a new one would pop up like a mental whack-a-mole. She was so absorbed that she jumped when her phone alarm went off, letting her know that she needed to head to Kimagure Rock. She checked the clock and it was already 7:00. Time flies when you have a million and one things to think about.

She got to the station and it was nice to see the Bo costume. She hugged it like it was a friend she hadn't seen in a long time before stepping into it. Everything was the same as usual and the normalcy of it all was comforting. Of course, it was still hard work and she took it very seriously, but it was familiar hard work that she knew how to handle. Afterward, she ran into Hikaru and the other band members on their way to get something to eat. They invited her to join and she politely agreed after confirming that they would not be eating that okonomiyaki monstrosity from before.

They made their way over to a little diner near the station, and Kyoko was trying to quiet her stomach as they waited for the food. "I was really impressed with your new drama, by the way," Yuusei mentioned.

Kyoko looked to him and was about to say something, when Shinichi cut in, "Oh! I know what you mean! I saw it, too, and I couldn't even believe it was really you, Kyoko!"

Kyoko blushed from the compliments and thanked them, embarrassed at all the sudden praise.

"You keep getting these kind of scary roles, though, huh?" She halted, but mentally chided herself, remembering what Kuu had taught her.

Hikaru had seen the moment's hesitation, and tried to comfort her. "They're all really unique and well-acted, so I'm sure you'll get some different roles soon!"

The waiter arrived, saving Kyoko from having to respond and she looked at the glorious hamburger steak with reverent eyes. The last time she had had one of those was with Ren, which brought up lots of embarrassing memories from the last twenty-four hours, and her face lit up.

Hikaru saw that she wasn't eating yet and looked at her face to see what the matter was, only to witness the most impressive blush he had ever seen. "Kyoko? Are you okay? Do you have a fever or something?" He put down his fork and reached over to touch her forehead. Shinichi and Yuusei watched their leader and pitied him when Kyoko recoiled from his touch like he shocked her.

"Oh, I'm fine. Absolutely fine, sorry to make you worry. This looks great!" She grabbed the knife and fork and vigorously went about eating her hamburger. Hikaru wasn't convinced, but as the wonderful flavor of hamburger filled her mouth, she was in bliss. 'So goooooooood!'

Hikaru chuckled at her reaction and went back to eating. Yuusei and Shinichi shared a look and suddenly announced that they actually had somewhere that they needed to be. Hikaru was about to ask them what in the world they had to do, but Yuusei tried to silently convey that he should use this time to get closer to Kyoko. It was Hikaru's turn to blush as they left him alone with her.

"Even though it's so late, they still have work to do. It's a shame they didn't even get to finish their dinners." Kyoko remarked, always reluctant to waste food, even if work was more important.

"Yeah…" Hikaru laughed nervously, hoping Kyoko wouldn't ask too many questions, like why in the world would Yuusei and Shinichi would be needed but not the band leader. All of a sudden it felt kind of awkwardly quiet without Yuusei and Shinichi's banter. Hikaru wasn't used to being around girls, so he never really knew what to say. Especially to a girl as cute as Kyoko.

Kyoko was so focused on the hamburger, she didn't really notice the silence. She almost forget Hikaru was even there.

"So… um, did something good happen lately?" Hikaru mentally beat himself up as Kyoko looked at him blankly. "I meant, well, you seemed really energetic today, and normally you turn me down when I ask if you want to eat with us." This was a train wreck. It sounded like he thought she was a gloomy introvert or something. "Not that there's anything wrong with that. I mean, I just." His brain stuttered to a halt as she kept looking at him.

He got really confused when instead of calling him out on being weird, she blushed bright red again. She looked down to hide her face a little and dismissed his claims that something nice had happened, but Hikaru had a sinking feeling that he knew what her behavior really meant. "Did you get a boyfriend?"

She looked up again in total shock, the color abruptly draining from her face. "What makes you say that?" Kyoko was panicking. Was she really that easy to read? Belatedly, she remembered that even if they're right, you should always deny it. "I don't have a boyfriend."

Hikaru looked at her skeptically. He was pretty sure she was lying, but he couldn't figure out why. Was her boyfriend involved in something bad? Did he already have a wife? The more he thought about it, the more worried he got. Surely, Kyoko wouldn't get involved in anything risky, right? Right?