Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hello, and welcome to my first Skip Beat fan fiction! I hope that you enjoy it, and please forgive any and all OoCness.

If I owned SB, would I be writing a fic about it?

… Yeah, probably, just to see people's reactions… but I don't, so I'm not. :( Please enjoy anyway!

"Welcome, Kyoko-onee-san!" Maria beamed, flinging open the door to the Takarada mansion. "Please come in, and make yourself at home! Oh, let me get you some slippers!" Kyoko grinned as Maria bounced around, searching for slippers in Kyoko's size. She had the day off today – a mandatory holiday as, according to the president, she had been working far too hard – and, as the Darumaya was closed for the week and she had not had to work, Maria had invited her to spend the night. The Takarada mansion was every bit as outrageous as would be expected of the LME president, and shall therefore not be described here, due to lack of space and time. Let it just be said that there were, that evening, many owls flying around the entrance hall.

"Thank you for inviting me, Maria-chan," Kyoko grinned, bowing and accepting the shockingly pink guest slippers (no doubt the president's doing) that her honorary younger sister handed her.

"I'm so excited that you could stay the night!" Maria squealed, grabbing Kyoko's hand and dragging her on a grand tour of the mansion, ducking under low-flying owls. "We can make voodoo dolls and talk about curses, and dress up – and whatever else we can think of! Grandpa said that we can use anything we like, within reason, of course."

"Of course," Kyoko nodded in agreement, overwhelmed by the sheer size of the building in which she was to spend the night. Maria led her from room to room, explaining what and where everything was.

"Oh, and Grandpa brought home Natsuko for us to play with! You'll get along once you get to know her. She likes people, and isn't remotely dangerous. See, here she is!" Maria pointed; the snake was basking in the warmth of a heat lamp in one of the jungle-themed rooms. "Natsuko, I've brought a friend!" Thus, Maria reconciled a slightly protesting Kyoko with the snake. Soon – and through no small effort on Kyoko's part to resist initial screams – the two got along as promised. Natsuko joined them on the rest of their journey, looped over Maria's shoulders and around Kyoko's waist.

"…And this is my room!" Maria declared, flinging open a grand set of double doors, which were crossed over many times by odd symbols. Kyoko exclaimed happily; the room was full to bursting with magical artifacts and ingredients, mixed with what was no doubt Lory's taste in fluffy, frilly bedclothes, furniture, and rugs. The elder girl allowed herself to be pulled into the room by Maria, Natsuko flopping off of them and onto the floor. The snake then slithered over to her favorite rug, and settled into the groove she had made by sleeping there many a night.

"Wow," Kyoko breathed unthinkingly. "Maria-chan, your bed is almost as big as Tsuruga-san's!"

"How do you know how big Ren-sama's bed is, onee-san?" Maria asked, not sure whether or not she should be suspicious. This was her onee-san, after all, and she would never do anything that such a statement could suggest. (Lory, had he been able to hear his granddaughter's thought process, would have wept for her lack of innocence.)

"Oh," came the partially-careless reply, "I was his fill-in manager once for a Love Me assignment, and he caught a cold, so I had to take care of him. Ah!" She clapped her hands suddenly, pulling herself out of the mansion-induced trance. "I know! Maria-chan, will you help me scold Tsuruga-san so he'll eat and sleep properly? If we combine our efforts, he might actually listen!"

"Of course!" Maria beamed, and the two began making plans. How could she have doubted her onee-san, who only had everyone's best interests at heart? "It's around lunchtime, why don't we call him now?"

"He might be working," Kyoko nodded, "but we could leave a message to remind him to eat. At the very least, we can ask Yashiro-san to pass on our message."

"Do you have his number, onee-san?" Maria inquired curiously, tilting her head as Kyoko rummaged around in her bag for her phone.

"Uh-huh," she replied, setting aside some curse dolls and a pair of needle-nose pliers before once again diving into her bag. "I got it when I needed some advice on a role."

Maria was about to inquire further when her attention was diverted by yet another strange inhabitant of her onee-san's bag. "Is this… bubble wrap?"

"Yup!" Kyoko laughed, glancing up at the air-filled plastic in the younger girl's hands. "I keep it in there so I have a form of stress release, should I run into anything… unpleasant." Her aura darkened momentarily, and she found her phone – as if the darkened mood had called it forth. This, of course, instantly dissipated the mood, as she remembered her purpose for locating her phone in the first place. "I'm dialing, Maria-chan," Kyoko informed her, and then set it on speakerphone.

A ring and a half later, the phone was answered. "Hello, Mogami-san. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"And me!" Maria piped up. "Onee-san is spending the day with me, and then she's going to sleep over!"

"Good for you," Ren laughed; Kyoko could hear the softness in his voice, though its meaning flew over her head. "Did you call me just to tell me that?"

"Oh! Are we interrupting you?" Kyoko yelped, suddenly looking stricken. "I'm so sorry – I-!"

"No, not at all. I'm on a break." He chuckled softly when he heard Kyoko's sigh of relief.

"Are you having lunch, then?" she inquired, now stern, already knowing the answer.

He paused guiltily. Maria stared curiously between her onee-san and the phone. Why wasn't Ren-sama answering? Did he not hear the question? "Are you having lunch, Ren-sama?"

"You're skipping again, aren't you?" Kyoko sighed, a touch of Setsu in her voice.

Ren again gave no answer, knowing full well that Kyoko would see through any lie he told her, despite their not being face-to-face.

"Tsuruga-san, you have to eat! You know that you have to take care of your body for this career! You're a professional!" She waved her hands emphatically, despite the fact that he could not see her movements.

"I never said that I wasn't eating lunch," Ren informed her mildly, amused by her distressed tone – at least he had some part of her heart, right?

"Are you?" Maria inquired.

"Not right now, no," Ren sighed finally, after another long pause. "I'll go eat something now."

"Not just onigiri!" Kyoko interjected. "Real food!"

"She's right, Ren-sama!" Maria added, "That won't keep you full! You need vegetables and protein – and milk!"

"Milk?" Ren replied, humor in his voice.

"Yes! Grandpa always makes sure I drink milk with lunch. He says that it's important for a balanced diet." Maria beamed proudly up at Kyoko, who grinned in return.

"I agree," she added. "Milk is a very important part of a balanced diet. You know," he voice grew quieter, and Ren pressed the phone to his ear, "you know how we worry when you don't eat properly, Tsuruga-san."

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line; Ren was exceptionally grateful that he could not see her expression when she said that, as he might not have been able to keep up what little façade he did around her. "Alright. I'll go eat something substantial – I'll even have Yashiro-san approve it, if it'll make you feel better. I hate to make you worry," he smiled softly, adding mentally, though I am glad that you're worried for my sake. That counts for something, right?

Kyoko grinned at Maria, who then said, "Thank you, Ren-sama! Now we can have fun without worrying too much! Make sure to eat a good dinner, too!"

Ren chuckled again. "Of course. Goodbye, Maria-chan, Mogami-san."

"Goodbye!" the two girls chorused, and ended the call. Maria then launched herself at Kyoko, squealing about a mission accomplished. Kyoko beamed in return.

Ren sighed as he slipped his phone back into his pocket, and made his way over to his overly-curious manager. Yes, there would be a rather lot of teasing to undergo because of this, but it was worth it. "Ready for lunch?"

"Sure," Yashiro replied, grinning evilly. "Was that Kyoko-chan on the phone?"

"And Maria-chan," Ren nodded. "Will you pick something out for me?"

Yashiro giggled fiendishly, nodding. "Naturally. Did the two of them convince you to go eat?"

"They merely requested it. I didn't want to worry them."

"So Kyoko-chan is worried about you?" Yashiro beamed. Progress!

"Let's just get lunch," Ren sighed, and walked towards the café, leaving an ecstatic Yashiro to bob along in his wake, peppering him with questions. This led to a rather irritating afternoon for poor Ren… but that's another story entirely.

Back at the Takarada Mansion, Maria was still chortling with Kyoko over the success of their mission, while Kyoko informed her that that was the fastest Ren had ever acquiesced to eating lunch. "So it will really work better in the future if we join forces to remind him!"

"Yes!" Maria cheered, flinging her arms around Kyoko.

"With all due respect, of course, he is a professional – he needs to act more like one! Like Director Kurosaki said, your body doesn't only belong to you in this career! Tsuruga-san knows that!" Kyoko set off on one of her rants, and little hope of sidetracking her existed.

Little, but not none – this was Maria, after all, and she did have a rather quick and curious mind that tended to connect certain dots. "Why did you start acting, onee-san?"

Kyoko paused mid-rant, her face becoming suddenly very blank; the atmospheric temperature dropped noticeably. Out in the hall, Sebastian slipped away from the door to fetch Lory. He had the distinct feeling that this coming speech was something that the president would want to hear, and something that would be very difficult to extract from Maria at a later date. "Pardon me, president, but I sense that Mogami-san is about to tell Maria-san something very important."

Lory looked up from his novel. "You mean she's going to tell Maria about her feelings for Ren?"

"That may be related, sir, but I doubt it. Maria-san just asked Mogami-san why she started acting."

"I'll come at once," Lory decided, putting his bookmark in place and swinging his cloak around his shoulders. "They are in Maria's bedroom, yes?"

"Yes, sir." Sebastian then followed the president down to Maria's room, just in time for Kyoko's slow recovery from shock and mental self-inspection.

"Are you sure that you want to hear this, Maria-chan?" Kyoko asked. "It's a very long story."

"I'm sure."

"Then you need to pinky swear that you'll never tell anyone – even President Takarada. I've never told anyone this before, not even Moko."

"I won't tell a soul!" Maria vowed, linking pinkies with her honorary elder sister; she was quite honored to be told something that even Moko didn't know. "Please, onee-san!"

"I guess that I'll have to start from the very beginning," she said, a sad smile on her face.

"When's that?" Maria inquired.

The elder girl sighed, "Maria-chan, you know that I'm not on good terms with my mother, correct?"

Maria nodded. "And you said that you don't have a father."

"As far as I've been told, yes," she affirmed. "I never knew my father. I don't know if he died when I was too young to remember it, if there was a divorce, or if I was born out of wedlock. I was never told anything about my father, save for the fact that I didn't have one. I don't even know if Mogami is my mother's maiden name, or even her real one."

Maria blinked, noting the pain on her onee-san's face, and nodded encouragingly.

"When I was first taught how to use the internet, I looked up my mother's name, trying to find out more about her, so that I could please her – I never could satisfy her expectations, you see, and my uselessness disappointed her – but I couldn't find anything. Looking back now, I have to wonder if 'Mogami Saena' was a name that she just adopted long enough to find a place to dump her unwanted child." A slightly bitter laugh escaped her lips; the look in her eyes had Maria on the brink of tears.

"That's not it, onee-san, I'm sure it's not! She couldn't have not wanted you!" Maria insisted, gripping Kyoko's slightly shaking hands in her own.

Kyoko's laugh grew harsher. "I thought that was what you hated most about adults, Maria-chan."

"Huh?"

"Empty words."

There was a brief silence; Maria stared at Kyoko. Did Kyoko honestly believe that her mother didn't want her? That couldn't be possible – after all, Maria's father had still loved her, even after the death of her mother. To think that anyone couldn't love her onee-san was… well, it seemed too impossible for words.

"I've not heard them before," Kyoko continued, more softly, "but I can seem them as empty nonetheless. I found out when I was a bit younger than you are now that my mother didn't want me. I overheard her talking to Fuwa-okami-san," here she paused, noting Maria's confusion. "Ah. When I was young, my mother rented a room at the ryokan of a family called Fuwa. When she went on business trips, I stayed at the ryokan. One day, she left… and never came back." Kyoko swallowed, a lump forming in her throat.

"B-But maybe something just happened to her, and she couldn't come back! Maybe she lost her memory somehow!" Someone not wanting Kyoko as family was unthinkable… it couldn't be true…!

"I appreciate the effort, Maria, but I know the truth. I told you that I overheard my mother talking with okami-san; I was shocked by what I heard, and asked my mother if her words were true. She told me…" Kyoko closed her eyes, her expression tortured. "She told me that her life would have been a thousand times better if I had never been born. She told me that I was a useless child, and it would be better if I didn't exist. She told me that no one could love such a boring, pointless existence, especially not her…. If I had no abilities of any sort, she said, if I was not intelligent, then I was no daughter of hers. If I could not fulfill her expectations, then…" her voice dropped again, softer than ever, "…then she said that I was better off dead."

Maria said nothing; what could anyone say to such an announcement? Outside the room, slumped against the wall, Lory sobbed silently.

"I tried, Maria-chan, I really tried to do what she wanted me to do. I tried to get one hundred percent every time, tried to have talent at anything. I could not meet her expectations; she grew more vocal and even slightly physical with her displeasure. I apologized; I think that was when I learned to do the dogeza. Then, one day, she simply left, leaving me with the Fuwas as guardians. I haven't seen her since." Her head dropped forward slightly, blocking her tortured expression from Maria's view. "Come to think of it, she's probably the reason I latched onto Sho so hard. I wanted any sort of affection, and seized upon anything vaguely resembling it."

"Onee-san?" Maria whimpered softly, still clutching Kyoko's unnaturally cold hands. Lory, still sobbing, silently accepted his fifteenth handkerchief from Sebastian.

Kyoko looked at her, startled. "I'm so sorry, Maria-chan! Am I unloading too much on you? Would you like me to stop?"

Maria shook her head rapidly. "If it helps any, onee-san, I'd like to hear your story. You helped me make up with Daddy, so I'd like to help by listening."

"Thank you." Kyoko nodded slightly, and continued, her expression slightly less pained now that the worst part of the story was over. "The Fuwas had a son named Shotaro. We were childhood friends, and grew up in the same ryokan. He was kinder back then; I was his only real friend when we were young, so he was especially kind to me – even if he never comforted me when my mother made me cry," her voice was now flat, dispassionate; her expression held not tenderness, not sadness – not even anger. "We were very close, and I soon declared myself in love with him. I fancied him my prince, who would come get me with glass slippers once I'd grown up. I never let him know that the girls at school persecuted me because he only talked to me, and not them; I stopped crying in front of him. Instead, I slipped down into the forest. It was there that I met Corn." She smiled now, which was a great relief to Maria.

"Isn't that the name of your magic stone?" she piped eagerly, hoping to keep Kyoko on a happy subject.

Kyoko nodded. "Corn gave me the stone. He was my fairy prince. We met, and had some good times together – he cheered me up, and he flew for me! He flew, Maria-chan! He did lots of little magic, and we became good friends. It was only for a few days, though; he had to go back to the fairy world," she whispered, sadness creeping back into her voice once more. "He couldn't stay in the mortal world for very long, and there was no way to contact him after he'd gone. I was heartbroken, and he gave me the Corn stone to cheer me up in his place. It's magic, full of his magic, and has kept me going through the years."

"Did you ever see him again?" Maria whispered, intrigued by the magic talk.

Kyoko nodded. "Briefly, when I was on location for a shoot. I was able to repay him for his kindness by helping him cast off a curse."

"What did you do?" the younger girl asked in a hushed whisper.

"The traditional method," Kyoko replied, ghosting her fingers over her lips. "I played a part, though, to follow the actor's rule of the heart and keep my promise. But then…" she paused, and blushed. "Then he repaid me for that, and vanished."

"You mean he kissed you?" Maria squeaked.

Kyoko nodded, her expression a mix of happiness, confusion, and upset. "My promise was broken."

Out in the hall, Lory's eyes widened. Kuon had failed to report that. Oh, that boy was in for some teasing…!

"Your promise?"

"To Tsuruga-san. I promised that I would preserve my purity outside of roles after the Valentine's Day fiasco."

Something connected in Maria's head. "Was your Shotaro that Fuwa Sho?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"What happened?"

"After we graduated middle school, he decided to run away to Tokyo to enter showbiz – his parents were against it, you see. They wanted him to take over the ryokan and – though I didn't know it at the time – they'd planned for me to be the next okami-san and his wife. They'd trained me in the ways of the okami-san since I was young; that's why I sit, stand, walk, and behave the way I do. I was bred for that purpose from a young age." She paused, took a breath, and continued. "He asked me to come with him to Tokyo, and I agreed. When we got here, I worked my tail off to support him while he grew steadily more famous and more unpleasant – the latter of which I refused to see, of course, as I was an idiot. Finally, I heard him saying awful things about me one day, and – boom – all that love became hate, and the grudge Kyokos were born."

"Can we curse him later?" Out in the hallway, Lory silently agreed with the sentiment.

"We can even use the voodoo dolls, if you like; we could set them on fire," she smiled. "But really, that's probably the best thing aside from Corn that had ever happened to me at that point in my life. I swore revenge, and entered showbiz. After a certain Love Me assignment, I further swore that I would fluster Tsuruga-san with my acting – I'd been forced to act a scene opposite him, and he'd played me like a puppet. I threw myself into acting. Eventually, though, I fell in love with acting, at the training school, and decided that I wanted to act so that I could find who I truly am – and you know the story from there."

"Wow," Maria whispered, and stroked the sleeping Natsuko silently for some time.

"I do envy you a bit, Maria-chan," Kyoko announced abruptly, following her own train of thought and breaking a rather long silence.

"Eh?" Maria squeaked, startled.

"I was just thinking – you have a loving father, even if you went through a rough patch, and a doting if eccentric grandfather. There are people in your life who love you, who are proud to have you as family," she seemed almost shy saying it, as if expecting something to strike out at her. She looked vulnerable after this admission, and Maria felt what must have been the thousandth pang of sympathy in the past half hour.

"You have people who love you, too, onee-san."

"Maria-chan, you don't need to try to cheer me up; listening was enough. I could never presume to be loved by anyone." Her head lowered again, her bangs shading her eyes as her fingers traced Natsuko's scales. "Maybe that's the real reason why I've sworn off love. I loved Corn when I was young, and he had to go back to the fairy world then; I still love him, and saw him again – he had to leave again, to regain his throne after I lifted his curse. I thought I loved Shotaro; he saw me as plain and boring, a girl to be used and tossed aside. I loved my mother desperately, sought nothing more than her approval; she told me to my face that she wished I had never existed. I don't want to love again; I don't want anyone I care about now to leave me, one way or another. I don't think that my sanity could take another one-sided love – and that's all that I can ever have."

"That's not true!" Maria half-shrieked, sitting up straighter. " I love you, Kyoko-onee-san, I really do, and I'm proud to call you my onee-san!"

Kyoko stared at her for a moment, her face blank with shock. Then, to Maria's horror, the tears that had been beneath the surface during her long speech began to flow freely. "O-Onee-san?"

"I-I'm sorry, Maria-chan," Kyoko hiccupped, trying to stem the flow of salty liquid. "I just don't know what to say. I've never had anyone tell me that before. They've said that they love my characters, but… no one's ever said that they loved me, Kyoko, ever in my life. I… I don't know what to say."

"You mean that Ren-sama still hasn't said anything yet?" Maria blurted, shocked. Lory froze.

"Said anything about what?" Kyoko asked innocently, failing to see the conversational connection, instead feeling exceedingly happy that, for once, her affections were returned by Maria, who was ready to consider her family. For the first time in her life, someone had told her that they loved her. For the first time in her life, it wasn't a one-sided love (as far as she was aware, at least; it had already happened, but she did not know this yet).

Maria gaped at the young woman before her. Ren-sama was obviously in love with Kyoko-onee-san – and, had it been anyone besides her beloved onee-san, Maria would've stopped the proceedings immediately – and she with him, yet the woman in question had no inkling whatsoever… and the man had not made any sort of advances. If this were a shojo manga, he would be a failure as a romantic interest, Maria decided. Of course, onee-san is dense, too, so it might work out in the end. Maybe I'll try to plot something with Grandpa and Ren-sama's manager later, after getting some info out of onee-san during Truth or Dare. In this way, Maria avoided breaking the fourth wall, instead merely taking practice swings at it with the large, sparkly sledgehammer that Lory kept in his tool room.

"Oh, nothing, onee-san! I got sidetracked." Lory sighed heavily yet silently. His granddaughter was treading in very dangerous territory.

"Oh, Natsuko's awake!" Kyoko exclaimed, allowing herself to be distracted. She would not let herself hope that Maria had intentionally diverted her. There was no way that such a mad idea could be true. Instead, she played with her adoring little sister and a giant, loving snake.

Lory went back to his rooms, deciding that nothing else of note could be gained from the conversation and feeling only slightly guilty for eavesdropping. Today, he had learned some valuable information about his first Love Me member's past – namely, information that explained why she was in that section. He sympathized with her, and felt just anger towards those who had hurt the girl who was – according to both Maria and himself – essentially family. He loved all of his employees, and Kyoko was no exception; he even doted on her a bit, as she was so desperately starved for affection – even if she would not admit that this was still the case. He decided that, in the future, he would keep a sharper eye on the news, in case any Mogami Saena happened to appear, and that he would keep an eye on Fuwa for Kyoko's safety.

Maria, for her part, vowed to ask Moko, the next time they met, to be just a little kinder to onee-san; and, if she asked why, Maria would simply tell her that Kyoko had a rougher bit of her past than what concerned Fuwa Shotaro. If she wanted further information, she would have to ask Kyoko; Maria would not betray her onee-san's confidence. She also vowed to give Ren-sama a prod or two in the right direction (onee-san was, after all, the only other woman good enough for Ren-sama), and maybe conspire with Grandpa and Yashiro-san next time. For now, she would have fun with her beloved onee-san and darling Natsuko.

Did you know that 'darling' is an Old English word for 'favorite minion'?

Chapter Text

Okay! That chapter was mildly depressing! I now present to you the second chapter, which will be MUCH lighter, and will have (a tiny bit) more Ren/Kyoko fluff. :) Thank you to my lovely reviewers, especially those who gave me some lovely T/D ideas. ^^ A thank-you also goes out to a real-world friend of mine, who supplied some as well. :)

"Onee-san," Maria asked, a little while later, once things had calmed down, they had eaten lunch, and had returned to Maria's room, "Truth or Dare?"

"Hmm?" Kyoko hummed, looking up from where she lay sprawled on the floor, tangled up in Natsuko the overly friendly snake.

The younger of the two humans felt her laughter intensify at the sight, and grabbed the camera that Lory had given her. "Smile, onee-san!"

Kyoko obliged, as did Natsuko – at least, the snake did the serpentine equivalent of opening her mouth in the general direction of the camera. Once the photo was taken, the elder girl inquired, "What did you say, Maria-chan?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to play a game with me, onee-san," Maria smiled innocently, slipping the camera in her pocket. She was glad that Kyoko was in good spirits once more – after all, she had just bared a rather painful portion of her past to Maria, and the things she had said were enough to bring most people to tears. Kyoko, thankfully, was made of tougher stuff. Maria took a moment to thank the stars that her grandfather had not been in the room when Kyoko poured out the sorrows of her past; he would undoubtedly be a blubbering mess now if he had. (Of course, Lory was such a blubbering mass at the moment; but Maria did not know that, as she was unaware that he had been eavesdropping.)

"Of course!" Kyoko beamed. "What would you like to play?"

"Hmm… have you ever played Truth or Dare?"

"No, but I've heard of it!" Kyoko's eyes began to shine. "It's very popular at sleepovers among close girl friends! Oh, I've always wanted to play!" She then launched into la-la land, her imagination running positively wild.

The younger girl giggled, and wondered if there was a way to view la-la land as Kyoko did. Perhaps there was some sort of mental train, or a special button? She tapped her finger on her lips, observing the young woman before her. The idea seemed ridiculous – but then, Maria lived with Lory Takarada, so ridiculous wasn't really something that registered in her young mind in the ordinary sense of the word. Hence, her next course of action seemed perfectly logical to the young girl.

Maria simply walked over to Kyoko, knelt down by the actress's head, and placed her pointer fingers on Kyoko's temples. When this failed to be effective in any sense of the word, Maria proceeded to touch their foreheads together, and chanted, "Egredimini visiones admirans mysterium tuum nobiscum." (Which, translated, roughly means, "Come forth, visions of wonder, and share with me your mystery.")

The effect was immediate, and slightly unsettling for Maria. She was pitched headfirst into la-la land, in a sequence not unlike a certain Alice Liddell's. As it transpired, la-la land was a beautiful place, filled with fairies of every kind, a wide variety of desserts, and a set of 'best friend' sequences (this last one was where Kyoko was currently residing). None of these, however, caught Maria's attention; she instead focused upon a darkened corner, roped off and decorated with warning signs. The figure standing behind the ropes seemed awfully familiar – perhaps if she could just get a bit closer –

"I'm sorry, Maria-chan. I didn't mean to zone out! Were you saying something?" Kyoko was blinking upside-down at Maria, their foreheads still touching.

"La-la land is beautiful, onee-san!" Maria exclaimed, sitting up. "I was visiting. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," Kyoko beamed. "I don't mind sharing la-la land with you."

"Why?"

"Well, you're my beloved little sister, so obviously fantasies should be shared," Kyoko reasoned.

Maria smiled. Onee-san loved her as well – she'd known it, but it was good to know that Kyoko could say it in return. She did tell Kanae that she loved her, but that was friend-love, not family-love. "It's like a fairy tale."

This statement, of course, resulted in another fun little excursion into la-la land. (This trip would be recorded here, but it can be a relatively scary place to those not on Kyoko and Maria's peculiar wavelength, and could therefore cause problems for some readers. It is not skipped because the authoress was overly eager to get to Truth or Dare. Really.) Too soon, however, they were drawn out by Natsuko, who desired to be free of Kyoko's limbs – she had not, after all, been drawn into la-la land, so she only knew that her two humans had suddenly gone very still. So, by shifting around, she awakened them and freed herself. Lovely, no?

"Shall we start the game?" Maria asked, at length. Natsuko's bizarre wigglings had resulted in gales of laughter from Kyoko. Maria had then taken advantage of the fact that her beloved onee-san was extremely ticklish; Kyoko had replied in kind, resulting in a very tired pair of girls. They had found it necessary to rest for a few moments before any sort of speech was possible.

"Yes!" Kyoko replied, sitting up and pulling her legs underneath her. "Would you like to start?"

"No, you can ask first, onee-san. You've been wanting to play, right?"

A beam in response. "Truth or Dare, Maria-chan?"

"Truth!"

"Alright… hmm…." She paused, and then asked, "Where were you on the night of September the twenty-fourth?"

Maria stared at her for a moment, attempting to discern any joking twinkle in her onee-san's eyes. Upon seeing that Kyoko was entirely serious, she burst into hysterical laughter. Kyoko was, understandably, confused, and queried as to the source of Maria's laughter (and Lory's, in effect, though she was unaware that Lory was spying on them). Between giggles, Maria explained, "Th-That's not the type of question you ask, onee-san! You ask personal stuff, like secrets and wishes and dreams!"

In his office, watching through the security cameras, Lory was dying of silent laughter. Sebastian's lip twitched slightly, proving that he was equally, if not more, amused.

Kyoko's face was very red, and her voice was very small. "Oh."

"It's okay, onee-san!" Maria assured her, before Kyoko could begin a flood of apologies. "I did the same sort of thing the first time I played! I was trying to explain a Dare, and pointed to a crumb on the tablecloth and said that it was my aunt, and everyone started laughing! I was just trying to help them visualize it!" This ended with a slight pout on Maria's part, and a giggle on Kyoko's. "But, to answer your question, I was in France with Grandfather."

"Oh, how lovely!" Kyoko exclaimed.

"Yes, we were there for a gathering of talents," Maria nodded. "Truth or Dare, onee-san?"

"How about Truth, so I know what I'm supposed to ask?"

"Okay!" A pause; then: "If you could only choose one type of magic to do, what would you choose?"

Kyoko tapped a finger against her lips. "Hmm… probably fairy magic, like Corn, but Hogwarts magic would be wonderful, too…. I really would like to be a fairy, though, so I'd choose fairy magic."

"Wise choice."

"I thought so. Truth or Dare?"

"Dare!"

"I dare you to play balloon Ping-Pong with me!"

"What's that?" blinked the younger girl.

"It's like regular Ping-Pong, but with paper plates on popsicle sticks instead of paddles and a balloon instead of a Ping-Pong ball," Kyoko explained.

Lory smacked his forehead for not thinking of it himself. Balloon Ping-Pong! It was genius!

"Will we keep playing during the game?"

"Sure, it should be simple enough. First to get five points wins – a point to your opponent every time you miss the balloon." Kyoko smiled, and the two went to fetch supplies – only to have Sebastian hand them the supplies in the hallway without a word. The girls shared a mildly surprised look, shrugged, and began their game. As it transpired, balloon Ping-Pong was actually much more difficult than regular Ping-Pong; it required more force, and the balloons were much harder to control than Ping-Pong balls. Thus, the next portion of the day involved quite a bit of panting.

"Truth or Dare, onee –" Maria took a violent swing at the balloon and missed (one point to Kyoko) "—san?"

"Truth!" Kyoko panted, smacking her paper plate 'paddle' against the balloon; said air-filled object spiraled into the air, resulting in Kyoko needing to hit it again for it to float over to Maria.

"What – was –" Maria jumped, and her paddle connected nicely with the balloon, "your last – dream about Ren-sama?"

"What?" Kyoko yelped, missing the balloon; they were now tied one-to-one.

"What was your last dream about Ren-sama?" Maria repeated, catching her breath as Kyoko retrieved the balloon.

"Eh…" Kyoko's cheeks flushed; she fetched the balloon. "A dream? Or a nightmare?"

"Whichever was most – recent!" Maria replied, smacking the balloon that Kyoko had served to her.

Kyoko's brain whirred, and she was flung back into la-la land's dark corner. "We were… in Corn's clearing. I had butterfly wings, transparent ones; he had white, feathered wings… but they were stained red and black. I was kneeling behind him, trying to get them clean – but I could only fix one feather at a time, by pressing it between my hands and muttering – a spell," she half-whispered, picking up the balloon and twisting its tied-off end between her hands. "The feathers were beautiful, but I could only reach the ones he couldn't see – so he couldn't see any that were clean, only the stained ones – so he thought that they were all stained. When all the ones in the center of his back were clean, I tried to balance myself, to push off and fly high enough to help him with the rest… but his wings enveloped me, and mine tangled with his." Her breath hitched. "Then –" her face was paler, and her voice broke.

Lory stared at the screen in disbelief. How much did this girl refuse to see, if she saw that much subconsciously?

"Then?" Maria prompted, observing Kyoko. Had she pushed too far?

"EE-YAH!" Kyoko abruptly hollered, picking up the balloon and smacking it towards Maria with all of her might. Had it been an ordinary Ping-Pong ball, this would surely have been a point for Kyoko; however, as it was a balloon, and balloons can be jerks, it simply spiraled up into the air and adhered itself to the ceiling with static electricity. "Truth or Dare?" Kyoko demanded, pointing her 'paddle' at Maria and deciding that reliving the rest of the daydream would be deadly to her admittedly weak sanity.

"Ah… Dare?" Maria requested weakly, staring at the balloon. It was steadfastly stuck to the ceiling, and would not fall any time soon. "I think that balloon Ping-Pong is done."

Kyoko nodded her agreement, somewhat calmer now that the daydream had been flung from her mind. "Any time anyone says 'eh,' 'um,' or 'huh' for the rest of the night – including you – you must scream."

"Okay," Maria nodded, relieved that her onee-san was alright. "I Dare you to –"

"Maria-chan, you didn't ask me yet," Kyoko interrupted.

"But you can't pick the same thing three times in a row, so you have to do a Dare," Maria informed her. "It's in the rules!"

"Oh. Alright."

"Follow me. I know a perfect place for your Dare!" This announcement was followed by an ominous giggle, and Kyoko followed Maria with no little amount of trepidation. Natsuko slithered after them, hissing happily. Maria's excitement was a tangible thing to the snake, something that it fed off of in some happy way. It gave another serpentine grin as Maria led Kyoko in Lory's room of frankly creepy quockerwodgers, and explained that the elder girl's task was to sit in the room without making a sound until she was told to come out. Kyoko nodded her comprehension and sat on her knees. Maria hurried out of the room; Natsuko followed, a silent, slippery shadow.

Within two minutes of Maria's vacating the room, something moved in Kyoko's peripheral vision. She whipped her head to the side, only to be met with the sight of an unmoving wooden doll. She blinked. Was her imagination playing tricks on her again? She shook her head, clearing it; she was being silly. Yes, the dolls were creepy; yes, her eyes were tired to the point where it looked like one of them had moved; no, it hadn't actually moved – her head whipped in the other direction, but she refused to make a sound. Maybe… maybe fairies were controlling the dolls to play with her, and were just too shy to say hello? She waved to a nearby doll. It waved back; a grin grew across Kyoko's face.

In the string-control room, Maria bit back a laugh as her camera recorded the scene; the plaster separating them was thin. As was expected from her onee-san, there were no sounds of terror – Kyoko seemed to be enjoying herself, communicating silently with the dolls. Perhaps she'd noticed the fishing line controlling them, or simply thought that they were magic – Maria had been thoroughly convinced of the latter until the former had occurred. After that, she had spent many long hours learning how to manipulate the quockerwodgers; now, her efforts came to fruition. She made the dolls dance around, entertaining her onee-san and nearly drawing forth an exclamation of delight when a princess doll curtsied to her. Kyoko, of course, had remembered her Dare to keep silent just in time, and gave an awkward, seated curtsy in return. This resulted in Maria laughing aloud, and Kyoko's Dare coming to an end. Maria then re-entered the room and explained about the quockerwodgers – much to Kyoko's disappointment, as she had truly believed that a fairy was playing with her. The two of them then walked out into the hall to continue their game, and shut the door on the quockerwodgers.

Maria blinked, and then reopened the door. She could've sworn that one of the dolls had moved. "Maybe there are fairies…."

In the control-room, Natsuko gave a snaky grin, and then went to find her two human friends.

"Did you say something, Maria-chan?" Kyoko inquired curiously.

"Nope! Shall we get back to the game?"

"Of course! Truth or Dare?"

Maria deliberated; onee-san seemed to be in a good mood… "Dare!"

Kyoko tilted her head to one side, and glanced up and down the hallway in which they stood. Her eyes alit upon a map of the mansion. Maria watched in mildly horrified fascination as a slow grin spread over her onee-san's face as the elder girl's eyes roved over the different labels on the map. Natsuko slithered up behind them, unnoticed. "President Takarada said that we could utilize whatever we wished, within reason, yes?"

"He did," Maria confirmed, with no little apprehension in her voice. "Why?"

"Oh, I've just got an idea, that's all." She beamed, turned from the map, and grabbed Maria's hand. "This way!" She strode off down the hall purposely, Maria hurrying along behind her and Natsuko slipping into their shadows. They had passed the glass-encased fireplace, the indoor pool built specifically for surfing, three or four ballrooms (Kyoko kept making odd turns, so Maria lost count), the fossilized remains of an ancient whale – suspended from the ceiling in one of the larger dining rooms – and the room containing a rather impressive collection of umbrella-toting crustaceans before Kyoko came to an abrupt halt. Maria crashed into her from behind, almost knocking the pair of them to the floor. Maria apologized, and Kyoko waved it away, already absorbed in yet another map – the seventh that they'd seen that day.

Then, without any decent explanation, she started walking again – this time up a set of steps that alternately sloped to the left and right. Natsuko hissed her displeasure, and wrapped herself around the camouflaged handrail, ascending unnoticed. The staircase, understandably, diverted Maria's wandering mind from its musings over her impending Dare, as she needed to focus to climb the stairs without slipping. Honestly, how did Grandfather expect people to climb these stairs in house slippers? She shook her young head. Of course. He'd had these installed during his suction cup craze. They eventually reached the top, and Kyoko turned right into a slightly dim room.

"Why are we here, onee-san?" Maria inquired, her brow furrowed. What Dare could possibly come from this room? Yes, it was large, but it was empty – something extremely unusual in the Takarada mansion. Natsuko flicked her tail from the doorway.

"Don't you know what this room is, Maria-chan?" Kyoko beamed, walking across the room to flick a switch on the wall.

"No, I've never even been in here befo-!" Maria cut herself off with a gasp as Kyoko flipped the switch. The room was suddenly crisscrossed many times over by thousands of laser beams. "Wow…."

"I saw it labeled on the map," Kyoko explained, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "I just couldn't resist!"

"So my Dare is to get across the room without touching a laser?"

"Yes… but your left knee isn't allowed to touch the floor either!" Kyoko giggled, adding the last bit on a whim.

"No problem!" Maria shot back; she was small and limber – piece of cake, right?

Wrong. As it transpired, the way that the lasers were positioned made knee-to-floor contact necessary. Kyoko was reduced to a fit of giggles as Maria was forced to crab-walk her way between two parallel laser beams. When Maria had achieved the halfway point, Kyoko took pity on her and turned off the laser beams. Maria let out a sigh of relief and rushed to the finish line. Kyoko swept her younger sister up in a hug, and congratulated her on her creativity – a crab walk wouldn't have occurred to her, she told Maria. Natsuko gave a serpentine snicker, and joined them next to the wall.

Maria then slumped to the floor, her legs exhausted. "Onee-san, Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," Kyoko replied; Maria-chan seemed tired, so a Truth would allow the necessary rest.

A few moments of careful thought from Maria followed this answer. Her onee-san had already told her an awful lot about her past, and she didn't want to cause her any further pain by asking more. There was also the fact that onee-san was afraid of loving again – that put many questions out of the running. Natsuko flicked her tongue at Maria's hand, as if to jump-start her brain; oddly, this worked. She could ask onee-san about Ren-sama! If she got definite evidence that onee-san loved Ren-sama, then she could tell Ren-sama and stop the ridiculous game of sempai-kohai! "Onee-san…" she paused, silencing a stray demon in her mind. She was far too young for Ren-sama, she reminded the demon. A four-year age difference was acceptable, probable; any difference of over ten years was controversial, improbable. Also, these two were obviously in love – she had a childhood crush, even if it stung to realize that it would go unfulfilled. This was for onee-san, she reminded herself. She loved onee-san even more than she loved Ren-sama. This was worth it. Onee-san needed Ren-sama's love more that she did.

Besides, it's not like she can't still love them both, and they her.

"Onee-san, what…" Natsuko interrupted her with a flick of her tongue, alerting her to Grandfather's presence in the doorway. He was watching them fondly, as if they were both his granddaughters by blood. She changed tack, to avoid embarrassment for her onee-san. "What is your favorite type of rice dish?" She saw Grandfather slump visibly in disappointment.

Kyoko thought this over for a moment. "I can't say that I really have a favorite; the only rice dish that I've had and disliked was Maui Omurice."

"I've never heard of that dish," Lory commented, walking into the room clad in wizard's robes, a pointed hat, half-moon spectacles, and a fabulous silver beard long enough to tuck into his belt. "Greetings, my lovelies."

"Ah! Good afternoon, President Takarada. Thank you for allowing me to spend the night." Kyoko bowed in greeting.

"It's our pleasure, Mogami-kun – though I do believe that it can be justifiably be called evening, or at least pre-evening, by now." He smiled, and, something he'd heard in passing tickling his memory asked, "How is Maui Omurice made?"

"By brute force, mostly," Kyoko sighed, remembering that confusing night. "It's an omurice with chicken, shrimp, vegetables, and whatever else you have on hand – all charred almost beyond recognition. I think that it's used as a good-luck charm before a particularly rough challenge."

"Oh? Did someone make it for you?"

"Not exactly… I think that I was more there to put ketchup on it…" her brow furrowed. "…And maybe for moral support. He never really said why I was there."

"Eh? 'He' –?" Lory began to say, but was cut off by a shrill screech from Maria. He instantly turned to his granddaughter, worried and startled. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Maria giggled. "It's one of my Dares. Every time someone says one of three sounds, I have to scream."

"That was more of a screech, though," Kyoko noted. Maria concurred, and Lory bit back a laugh. Natsuko nudged his hand with her head, and he patted her.

"Would you like to join us, Grandfather?" Maria inquired, standing and smoothing down the skirt of her dress robes.

"Surely you wouldn't want an old man playing," Lory beamed, eyes indicating that he truly wished to join them.

"Grandfather, you always say that you're only as old as you feel!" Maria scolded, taking his hand. "Besides, we're running out of Truths and Dares. Right, onee-san?"

Kyoko nodded. "I've never played before, so I'm not very good with the questions. If you're not too busy, we would enjoy it if you joined us."

The responding grin from Lory sent a wave of foreboding crashing over Kyoko. "I'm not busy in the slightest! Come! It's dark in here – I know the perfect place to play!" He draped Natsuko over his shoulders, took Maria by the hand, and offered his arm to Kyoko, who took it gingerly. "Now we can add Joint Dare to the options!" He led them out of the room and down a hall.

"Joint Dare?" Maria blinked. "What's that?"

"It's when two people do a Dare together! With this added, you can't do the same thing twice in a row. Plus, the Darer gets to choose which two people do the Dare – or which two beings," he added, smiling at his favorite snake.

"So we could do a Dare with Natsuko?" Maria giggled.

"Of course!" Lory beamed. "The Darer could even be the other person in the Joint Dare, if they so wish. Anything can happen!"

At which point Maria saw the particular type of sparkle in her grandfather's eyes and wondered if it had been a mistake to invite him to join Truth or Dare. This thought was confirmed when Lory threw open the doors to his largest costuming room – the one complete with music, runway, make-up stations, wigs, and (of course) dressing rooms.

Maria knew it had been a mistake to invite him to join Truth or Dare.

Oh, well. Nothing could be done about it now. Besides, onee-san's eyes were sparkling in the la-la land fashion again; if onee-san was happy, it couldn't be all bad, right?

Exactly fifteen minutes and one alien-devil costume later (as Dared by Kyoko of all people, and something that had been removed as soon as possible), Maria's opinion had changed. It could be very bad indeed. Nonetheless, the game went on, just as show biz does….

"Mogami-kun! Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare?"

Kyoko weighed her options. The president knew about her forbidden feeling, and therefore would use a Truth as an opportunity to wheedle more information. A Joint Dare was a wildcard; she knew nothing about them, so it might be best to wait for an example. A Dare could actually be used for drastic measures – but she'd promised not to tell Tsuruga Ren that she was in love with him (of course, there was the loophole matter of Tsuruga Ren being fictional and Hizuri Kuon being real, but Kyoko was, as of yet, unaware of this), so she deemed it safe enough. Besides, the president was unlikely to be able to resist the call of the costumes. "Dare, please."

Lory grinned evilly, a plot hatching in his mind. If he did that, and then Maria chose that… Oh, how wonderful. He clapped his hands once sharply, and a flurry of assistants appeared from seemingly nowhere. "Ladies, kindly take Mogami-kun to dressing room W and give her the proper clothes and make-up – and do not disregard the wig! Mogami-kun," he continued, turning to Kyoko, "your Dare is to act out a character for the outfit you are given. Her name will be… Annabel Cooper. Her first name means 'adorable'; she is a fun-loving, carefree, casual girl, but one who works hard so she can play hard. She loves horses." His lips quirked slightly, wondering if Ren owned a cowboy hat. Save a horse, ride a cowboy, after all. "Good luck!"

"Yes, sir!" Kyoko exclaimed, leaping to her feet in excitement and rushing over to where the assistants waited. She got to act for a game! She wouldn't let the president be disappointed! Plus, she got to have her makeup done!

"Grandfather, it was onee-san's turn to ask me," Maria stated as Kyoko was whisked into one of a multitude of dressing rooms.

"I'll ask in her place, unless you prefer to wait."

"No, go ahead, please."

"Alright, my adorable granddaughter – Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare?"

"Truth."

"What were you planning to ask Mogami-kun right before you noticed me in the doorway?"

"Well… that's… sensitive…" she flushed; Grandfather probably knew, but she shouldn't take chances.

"If it's anything concerning Ren, then I already am aware of their mutual – yet frustratingly un-acted-upon – feelings of love," Lory assured her.

"Oh."

"Well?" Lory prompted gently. "I know this can't be easy for you, but –"

"Oh, I've already decided to help them together. I love onee-san a bit more than I love Ren-sama, as she's my sister, so I want her to be happy." This abrupt and incredibly mature statement struck Lory speechless for several seconds, so Maria continued. "I was try to figure out how to ask what onee-san would do if, theoretically speaking, Ren-sama kissed her like her fairy prince did. It seemed to be the most direct approach."

"Do you not understand how delicate this balance is?"

"Yes. That's why onee-san needs a confidant like me, as Moko might love her too, but I'm easier to talk to about this stuff. Plus, people – even onee-san – are more likely to believe something if a child says it." She paused and smiled. "Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare?"

He laughed. "Truth, my amazing granddaughter."

Her eyes glinted. "What is your favorite costume?"

Lory was then set to many minutes of silent pondering. This was a difficult question – so difficult, actually, that he was still pondering when 'Annabel' came back to their circle.

"Howdy! I'm Annabel Cooper, but you can just call me Annabel," she beamed, tipping her cowboy hat up so that they could better see her face and her long, brunette, braided pigtails. She wore a tied-off plaid farmer's shirt, cut-off jeans, and cowboy boots with spurs in addition to her fabulously ridiculous hat. A rope was looped onto her thick leather belt, and she had one of her thumbs tucked casually into the waist of her hip-riding jeans. Annabel Cooper was, every inch, a cowgirl – a subject Kyoko was familiar with, as the taisho at Darumaya was surprisingly interested in westerns. Kyoko had seen him almost-smile at one once, so she knew that he must like them quite a bit. "What're y'all playin'?"

"Truth or Dare," Maria giggled.

"Sounds like fun!" Annabel beamed, plopping down next to Maria. "I'll join ya."

"Okay! Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare?" Maria inquired.

Kyoko may have been cautious, but Annabel didn't know the meaning of the word. "Joint Dare!"

Maria smirked; inside of Annabel's head, the boss Kyoko shuddered. "I Dare you to join me in persuading someone special to join us for dinner!"

"Awesome! Can I cook? I'm pretty good, and I bet I could whip up something phenomenal if I had a little help." Having said this, she tipped Maria a wink and pulled out Kyoko's cell phone. "Would ya mind telling me the number?"

Maria nodded an affirmative, and smiled, "It's in the contacts." Natsuko licked Lory's hand to jump-start his brain, and then slithered over to investigate Kyoko's new alter ego. Maria reached for the phone. "I'll dial."

Annabel surrendered the phone and turned her attention to Natsuko. The two spent the next thirty seconds or so wrestling, until Maria passed the phone back. "Who's coming?"

"Ren-sama, if this works."

Annabel grinned, setting it to speakerphone. "Don't worry, it will. The Boss Kyoko just told me that some Yashiro guy told her that our target's schedule is clear tonight."

"Hello again, my fairies," Ren answered, his genuine smile and humor obvious in his voice.

"Hello, Ren-sama!"

"Howdy, Ren." Annabel grinned at the moment of shocked silence that followed this familiar address, and took advantage of it. "Wanna come have dinner with us tonight? I'm cooking. Well, I will have an excellent assistant." Again, she winked at Maria. Had Lory been paying attention, he would have noted that she'd picked this trait from her 'father' to give to Annabel. As it was, he would still find out – only later, when he reviewed the tapes of that night.

"I couldn't impose on your night," Ren said graciously, albeit with a slightly shocked, strangled tone.

"Don't you like my cooking?" Annabel asked, with something that could only be described as a verbal pout.

This, of course, wreaked lovely havoc with Ren's imagination. "Of course I do. However –"

The rest of his words were lost as Annabel interrupted him. "Great! Then we'll see you 'round seven!"

"Yashiro-san told onee-san that you have tonight free," Maria piped up, wanting to do her part of the Joint Dare, "so we'd think that you don't want to spend time with us if you continue to refuse."

"When you put it like that, I must accept your offer," Ren half-smiled, half-sighed, well aware that he'd been played like bongo drums. "I'll see you both at seven fifteen."

"Yee-ha!" Annabel whooped, once the phone call had ended. "I told you there'd be no problem! That was a piece of cake!" She gave Maria a high-five.

Maria giggled along enthusiastically. "Ren-sama is powerless against us!"

"My wedding tuxedo," Lory announced, finally snapping out of his musings. "My favorite costume was the peacock-patterned tux I wore to finally marry the love of my life." He then noted the frozen poses of celebration. "What did I miss?"

"Oh, we talked Ren-sama into joining us for dinner! Annabel and I are cooking!"

"Poor kid never had a chance," laughed the cowgirl, hand going to her lasso, "not against two tough gals like us. We've got him wrapped around our little fingers."

Lory smirked widely. Oh, this was going to be wonderful fun.

… The reader may note that Kyoko's initial misunderstanding of Truths in Truth or Dare, along with Maria's crumb explanation, were both actual occurrences – in fact, they occurred on the same evening. In her defense, the authoress was approximately seven years old and had never heard of the game before in her life.

Or the reader may not note that. It is up to the reader.

The reader may also review. That is highly requested by the authoress, who only ever intended for this to be a one-shot… and then Lory got involved. The authoress sighs, and begs for reviews.

The authoress expresses her sincere wishes that the reader enjoyed this chapter, and that the characterizations weren't too flawed.

Thank you for reading! Bonus points if you guess what spell Kyoko had to whisper to clean Corn's feathers!

Chapter Text

I'm back, my lovelies! Thank you to all who reviewed and suggested Truths and Dares! I hope that you're enjoying the story so far, and that this won't disappoint you. I do not own Skip Beat, but please enjoy anyway!

Ren… why must you make me up the rating?

Ren flipped his phone shut and glanced over at his manager, who was staring at him with expectant sparkles in his eyes. "You told Mogami-san that my evening was clear?"

Yashiro blinked, thrown for a loop. "No, I've not seen her today. But you only have a tabloid meeting this evening that can be rescheduled, so you could be free if you need to be."

"Then why…?" The actor furrowed his brow. "It's unlike her to assume that I'm free."

"That is weird. Perhaps she's remembering that you rarely have too much on Sunday evenings?" The manager's sparkles increased.

"I can't recall ever telling her that." Ren sighed, and shook his head. "Rearrange things, will you? I need to investigate something." She had called him by his first name, spoken informally – she'd used slang, for heaven's sake – assumed something about his schedule, pouted verbally (How was that even possible?), and twisted his words so that he couldn't refuse. Something incredibly strange was occurring; perhaps the president had given her a new assignment? No, she would've mentioned that… unless she'd been told not to tell him. Or maybe…

As Ren's internal musings continued, Yashiro adjusted the schedule. "Yes, I'm sorry. Something extremely time-sensitive came up…. Yes, he can do it that day at four. …Thank you. Goodbye." He adjusted the calendar, and then glanced at Ren. "You're good." He smirked when the younger man did not respond, still absorbed in his own ponderings. Kyoko-chan must've said something truly odd over the phone. Perhaps… perhaps his hopes were finally coming to fruition? Had she dropped some sort of hint to Ren, and then invited him to dinner? He nearly squealed at the very notion, but instead decided that it was high time to reign in his sparkles before any got stuck to Ren. It would do nothing good for his image if he had bright pink sparkles stuck to his sleeve.

"We only have the photo shoot left, yes?" Ren inquired, picking up his pace. He'd have to hurry – Kyoko was with Maria, and that meant that President Takarada would be there, too. This thought brought Ren to an abrupt halt. Of course! It might not have been an assignment, but between the two Takaradas… he knew that they would never hurt her, but Maria might have convinced Kyoko to call him by his first name, and the president might've told her how poor Ren's eating habits had been before he'd gotten a manager.

"Er – yes," Yashiro replied, giving Ren a gentle prod to get him moving once more. "It shouldn't take more than an hour, so you'll have more than enough time to change at home before going to see Kyoko-chan." He inwardly grinned when Ren sped up at these words.

"And Maria-chan, and the president," Ren added. "Mogami-san's having a sleep-over with Maria-chan tonight at the president's mansion, and they have invited me to join them for dinner."

Yashiro wilted visibly. If Maria was there, all lovey-dovey moments would be banned; the young girl's crush on Ren was no secret, and she was, after all, young. It would not do for her to witness the surge of emotions that Ren was sure to display when he finally confessed to Kyoko. Then another wire connected in Yashiro's brain, and he perked up once more. The president would be there! Perhaps he could get the two girls excited about some sleepover game before Ren got there, and then Maria would convince Ren to play! What if… Yashiro gasped. What if they played Truth or Dare, and Ren had to kiss Kyoko? Sure, it sounded like a cliché for some sappy romance, but he wanted some sap to occur – he'd waited for ages, darn it, with little to no action! He couldn't wait to see it!

Ren watched with mild amusement as Yashiro went through a cycle of emotions, finally deflating as he realized he was not invited to watch the events unfurl, and then bounce up once more as it occurred to him that the president would probably get everything on tape. The younger man sighed. He was going to have a rough interrogation the next day; that much was assured. For now, however, he simply decided to ignore his emotional-roller-coaster of a manager and perform his best at the shoot. The sooner he completed his duties, the sooner he'd get to see Kyoko – yes, they'd been speaking on the phone with greater frequency of late, but it had been far too long since he'd spent an evening with her.

Meanwhile, back at the Takarada mansion, Annabel was raising – well, she was causing an awful lot of chaos, which Lory was all too pleased about. He'd taken it upon himself to give the girls and snake an impromptu tour of the mansion, and had insisted that the girls try out each and every room they came across. Hence, Annabel was hanging upside-down from a tree by her legs, holding an in-depth conversation with what appeared to be a vibrantly purple monkey. Maria looked on in slight amusement and deep worry as the girl inhabiting her onee-san's body flipped from the thankfully not very high tree and landed in a crouch. Annabel then grinned up at Maria, straightened, grabbed her hand, and raced off through the mini-jungle with her in tow. Lory snickered. Kyoko had interpreted Annabel just as he'd hoped – fun-loving, impulsive, casual, and wild. He happily imagined what Ren's expression could be upon meeting this new incarnation of his beloved while Annabel rode Maria and a tiny blue monkey around piggyback-style. The monkey then proceeded to throw banana peels at Natsuko, and Lory deemed it time to move to a different room. Annabel saluted the monkey and marched out into the hallway, Maria still clinging to her shoulders.

"Where to now, prez-oh-ma-prez?" Annabel asked, shooting him a cocky grin and popping one hip to rest her hand upon.

Lory nearly snorted. He was sure that, had Kyoko been able to escape Annabel's influence – some part of his brain registered amazement that she'd come up with such an easy-going character so quickly, and acted her so well – she would have been in a dogeza to apologize for the cowgirl's informality. "On to the room that is right up your alley, figuratively speaking!" He marched down the hall, climbed up a rope ladder from a pirate day, and flung open a door with a cow-skull handle.

Annabel gasped. "It's just like ma home!" The room was deceptively large to the point that it appeared to house an entire farm, stereotypical cornfield and all. There was even a gray-and-black speckled horse, quietly grazing on the grass around the farmhouse. Annabel slowly bent her knees, her eyes fixed on the horse, and let Maria slide softly to the ground. Then, continuing her slow movements, she stood and quietly walked over to the horse. It whinnied softly and raised its head to look at her. Maria watched in something akin to a quiet awe as Annabel quickly made friends with the horse, touching her forehead to its, and softly blowing into its nostrils to allow it to accept her scent.

"Her name is Arwen. It means 'noble maiden,'" Lory smiled.

"She remind me of Jingles, ma horse back home. You're a beauty, Miss Arwen, a true noble," Annabel smiled, smoothing down the horse's mane. Arwen butted the girl gently with her head, a sign of affection. "You're tired, now, aren't you, Miss? You look like you've had a rough time of it."

"I found her at a closed-down circus in my younger days. She used to be a spitfire, but now she prefers to take it easy. I'd have her outside, but it's raining today. It isn't good for her system anymore," Lory explained, taking his granddaughter's hand. "Would you care to have her walk with us while we take a look around the room? I'm afraid that her bones are too frail for a rider anymore, though."

"Well, that's a cryin' shame," Annabel sighed. "I feel for you, Miss Arwen. Come along, now. We'll take your pace."

Maria was having a bit of difficulty reconciling this girl with her onee-san; they were so different, yet so similar. She did find it amusing, however, that the only one to whom this girl showed any sort of formality was a horse. She queried about this.

"Well, horses are smart, see? If ya don't treat 'em right, they know it. So it's best if ya act formal at first, and get friendlier with 'em as time goes on," Annabel explained, one hand in Maria's and the other buried in Arwen's mane. They made a single loop of the farm room, Annabel telling wild stories all the while – ones that she had adapted from the films and dramas that taisho liked to watch on occasion. "…and then the cat got caught up in the tumbleweed! You could hear the mewls for miles. Ma big brother had to cut him out with the sheep shears. He nearly took off poor old Fuzzbutt's tail!" She paused, and then suggested that they cook dinner in the farmhouse. Maria agreed; Lory called for the ingredients. They had a wonderful time, though a few small mishaps – overturned flour bags, for instance – occurred. Sebastian then removed the dishes to a dining hall to keep warm. Lory then decreed that they'd spent enough time in the farm room.

Annabel said a long, animalistic goodbye to Arwen before they walked out the door – they'd completed their circuit of the room, after all. Just outside the door, as they were slipping down a psychedelic slide to the next level, she asked, "Weren't we playing a game?"

Lory sat up, wide-eyed, as they landed in the ball pit at the end of the slide. "Oh! But of course! Let us continue!"

"Yes! Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare, Grandfather?" Maria grinned, glad to have common ground once more with this new incarnation of her onee-san. They climbed most ungracefully out of the ball pit.

"I say… Joint Dare!" Lory declared.

"Okay… go back to the costume room we were in before and dress up in matching outfits with Natsuko – but not fitting with today's theme!" Maria beamed; the snake in question (who had been waiting for them outside of the farm room) came slithering down the slide at the mention of her name, careful not to look any of them in the eye. Her duty of the day, after all, was to play the basilisk – though, personally, she preferred curling up on a hearth rug like Nagini.

"With pleasure!" beamed the eccentric president. "As much as I love being Dumbledore, these robes are a bit hot today."

"I noticed him sweating," Maria confided to Annabel as the elder girl gave her a boost through one of the parts of the hall's obstacle course. "Grandfather hates to admit that his costumes are sometimes out-of-tune with the weather."

"That was mighty kind of you. It gives him a way out without losing face," Annabel replied, flipping herself over the obstacle in a way Setsu had told her Cain once had as BJ. As Kyoko had grown more accustomed to acting a (slightly) wider variety of roles, she had also gotten more used to creating characters quickly. Whenever a new assignment came up, she would immediately call a Kyoko meeting in her mind, and all of her characters, grudges, and angels (now two in number) would gather to help with the creation and briefing process for who to avoid, who to treat kindly, who to insult, and who to treat with respect. The entire briefing took perhaps three minutes; the creation process, which happened prior to the briefing, took about fifteen. This mainly consisted of going over the information provided, adding to the knowledge she had about the real world, and then adding personality quirks. The background mostly filled in on its own, as new questions appeared in her mind or in the outside world. Sometimes these questions were brought to an emergency meeting, and could take several hours to resolve. Fortunately, these meetings were not mandatory for whichever Kyoko was currently driving her the boss Kyoko's body, so they did not overly interfere with her daily life – unless something truly bizarre came up, resulting in the girl's odd, occasional freezes and pauses, both as herself and as her characters.

The three humans and lone snake returned to the dressing room, and Lory disappeared into its depths with Natsuko. "I shall return!"

"Have fun, Grandfather!" Maria called after his retreating form. "Good luck, Natsuko darling!"

"Dare," Annabel stated, glancing at the time. Natsu had an idea, and Annabel wanted to twist it to her own definition of fun.

"Huh?"

"I choose Dare. It's ma turn, and it'll take a while for the prez to change, so I don't want us to get bored during the wait."

Maria also glanced at the time. It was seven ten; Ren-sama should be here any minute, as he was never late. A plan hatched in her brain, and she told Annabel her Dare. The elder girl grinned. This should be fun.

Ren straightened his shirtsleeves and knocked on the door of the Takarada mansion, not entirely certain what would await him beyond the giant, golden doors. Sebastian opened the door a few seconds later and showed him inside; Ren placed his shoes next to Kyoko's (Sebastian remained impassive) and took the offered house slippers. After a rather confusing trek though the mansion, he found himself alone outside of one of the costume rooms, with an oddly familiar beat pulsing through the door. It reminded him of his homeland – country music? American country music? His father loved country music, so he had as well; but it was out of place here. It didn't even match the theme of the day! Shaking his head slightly to clear it, he pushed open the door. What he saw caused his mouth to fall slightly open, despite his valiant efforts to keep it shut.

Annabel paused in her wild, almost tribal dance and met his eyes, confirming in his mind that this was indeed his Kyoko… at which point she cocked her hip to one side, rested her hand there, and winked at him. "Howdy, cowboy. Ya come for the rodeo?"

Kyoko – pure, demure Kyoko – had winked at him and asked if he was here for a rodeo … dressed in not much more than what she wore as Setsu! "Mogami-san, wha-?"

"Nope!" she beamed, and the paused again as the music went to the chorus. "Oh my god! This is my song!"

"Pardon me…?" He blinked, and realized that she was translating the lyrics.

"Come here, boy, I wanna dance!" With that, she grabbed his hand and began spinning around with him, pulling him into what can only be described as lighthearted insanity. He swallowed; he knew this song – how far would she take the next set of lyrics?

His answer came in her kissing the left lapel of his shirt; part of him wanted to wilt from disappointment, but her exuberance was catching, so he simply enjoyed dancing with her and being able to freely touch her. The chorus repeated; she kissed his right lapel. He swallowed again as the chorus began to play the final time; would she…?

No, as it transpired, she did not give a traditional mistletoe-style kiss; instead, she kissed the bare skin between his collarbones that his shirt revealed. His breath hitched; out of what, he did not know. "Play it again?" he requested weakly. She giggled and took a step back from him, licking her lips quite blatantly as Lory, Natsuko, and Maria reappeared – the former two dressed in matching swan costumes. Needless to say, the snake was mildly disgruntled, even if she was used to being dressed up on a whim. She had wings , for crying out loud, and they weren't even functional. (The functional wings, for the record, were in her eagle costume. Lory had wanted to wear matching eagle costumes, but his was currently at the cleaners, getting persimmon juice stains removed.)

Annabel stuck out her hand and pumped Ren's. "Not sure if I introduced myself. I'm Annabel Cooper! Nice ta meet ya – you must be the Ren I was briefed about during the Kyoko meeting! Did ya know that your heavenly smile – the one you give the boss Kyoko when you're actually happy – is slowly killing off the grudge Kyokos? There are only a handful left to be her heart's UV ray protectors!" She stopped speaking and moving quite suddenly, leaving her stunned audience to register what she'd revealed. Then, just as suddenly, she was reanimated. "Oops… I wasn't supposed to tell ya that. Forget it, 'kay?" She gave him a cheerful smile, further throwing Ren for a loop. His 'heavenly smile' was killing off her heart's 'UV ray protectors'? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Why did she have names for his smiles? He seized upon the least confusing topic.

"So your name is Cooper-san?"

"Yeah, but call me Annabel. Everyone does! Plus, you've known the boss Kyoko for ages." Natsuko slithered towards Annabel and wound around her mostly-bare legs.

Unfortunately for Ren, this action drew his attention to her outfit, which he had been taking painstaking attempts to ignore. This girl was going to be the death of him – especially when the president was involved. She just had to be a cowgirl, didn't she? She couldn't've been a – a – a long-skirted prairie girl, or a well-covered Victorian lady; she had to be a cowgirl, from that single fantasy the president had discovered before Ren had learned to keep his trap shut about certain subjects. He wanted to glare daggers at the man responsible for his suffering, but he couldn't drag his gaze away from Kyoko the cowgirl. Annabel, he corrected himself. She's a character. If you think of her as Kyoko, you'll go mad. He blinked. Her fingers were playing with the rope, idly twirling the end of the lasso. Part of him wondered if she could actually use it… if so….

Maria pulled him out of his increasingly dangerous thoughts by running at him and jumping into his arms. "Ren-sama!"

"Hello, Maria-chan." He smiled at her gratefully.

"You still haven't replied to Annabel-onee-san, Ren-sama. What do you want her to call you?"

"It's fine!" Annabel laughed. "I'm going to call him whatever I want no matter what he says, so he doesn't even have to talk at all."

Maria giggled at this, and then asked, "Did you like her Dare, Ren-sama? I came up with it!"

"It was very… creative. Did you pick the song as well?"

"No, that was Grandfather's doing. I asked for an American country song, and he put that on the speakers. I wanted something that Annabel-onee-san would like."

"How kind of him."

Annabel flung up her hands to shield herself from his gentlemanly smile. "An' there's the smile that feeds the grudges! What're ya so angry 'bout?"

Ren froze, and Maria looked on in confusion. What was onee-san talking about? Ren-sama was smiling! Was this Annabel gibberish, or was this a fact Kyoko-onee-san knew? "Onee-san…?"

"What, Maria-chi?" grinned Annabel, then paused thoughtfully. "Maria-chi. I like that. It reminds me of mariachi, like a mariachi band! Doesn't that sound fun, prez-oh-ma-prez?"

"Indeed!" Lory cried joyfully, having discovered his next day's costume. "A mariachi band for Maria! Wonderful!"

"I thought so," Annabel beamed. "Hey, weren't we playing a game?"

"Yes! Do you want to play with us before dinner, Ren-sama?"

"Certainly. What are you playing?" Annabel's grin sent a rush of foreboding over him.

"Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare, cowboy?"

At these words and Ren's exceedingly blank expression, Lory was required to cough to cover up his guffaws; Sebastian appeared from behind and placed a black hat identical to Annabel's in all but color (as hers was white) on Ren's head. Lory's laughter could then no longer be covered up, and even Maria was reduced to a fit of giggles. Ren gently placed the giggling girl on a chair, and turned to leave the room – presumably to recover his dignity, or possibly destroy the hat. Annabel – who had not been reduced to helpless laughter, and had instead simply enjoyed a sight she deemed frankly appealing – acted. Within moments, Ren was at her mercy. Lory's laughter intensified, and Maria's petered away into shock.

Only Sebastian had seen exactly what Annabel had done, as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore sees all. Annabel had, upon seeing Ren's intent to escape, pulled her rope from its loop on her belt and lassoed the man. She had then proceeded to reel him in, tie him up, and force him into a nearby chair. She smirked, and straddled his hips. "Ya tryin' to pull a runner, cowboy?"

She was entirely too close for Ren's comfort; he wondered if this was some sort of punishment for his earlier thoughts. Yes, she could use the rope – quite well, at that – but he hadn't expected this. His treacherous mind sank back into several hastily amended fantasies from his youth, and would have remained there had Annabel not been expecting an answer. "I needed a bit of air."

"Ya lie. Ya were embarrassed 'bout the hat."

He sighed. No matter what form she took, Kyoko could see right through him. "I—"

"Personally, I think it looks good on ya. Ya're way too formal for this li'l rodeo, unless ya want me to ride ya like a decorative pony."

"Is that my Dare?" He was acutely aware of his audience, but more so of the girl on his lap, holding the rope that bound him.

"If ya choose Dare," she smirked, "it might be."

"I do," he whispered, to avoid a break in his deceptively calm tone.

"Save a horse, ride a cowboy, right?" she laughed, but then drew back, observing him; a serious expression settled on her face, and a finger rested thoughtfully on her lips. On the next chair, Natsuko licked Maria's hand, drawing her attention to her grandfather, who was suddenly at high attention.

Annabel sighed, finger still to her lips. "Oh, but you're wearing such nice trousers. It'd be a shame to get them filthy crawling around on the floor. Your Dare is to whinny like a horse instead, okay?"

Ren replied with a soft whinny, ashamed with himself for what he'd thought she meant. Annabel may be a character, but she was still his pure, innocent Kyoko underneath.

…At which point Annabel removed her finger from her lips, moving it instead to his; she leaned forward and whispered her next words so that no one aside from her cowboy could hear her. "Next time I'll ride you for sure, okay? It's a promise!" Her tone was full of the joy that comes of mischief-making; when she drew back, she threw him yet another wink and cheeky grin. Then, with a couple of expert tugs, his bonds fell away; she looped the lasso back through her belt loop.

Ren had to admire her work; amazingly, he didn't even have any rope burn. It was Lory, however, who asked the question in all of their minds. "Where did you learn how to lasso like that?"

"Is that ma Truth?" Annabel inquired innocently, now perched on the arm of Maria and Natsuko's chair (Natsuko, during the rope display, had slithered into Maria's lap).

"Yes."

"Oh, it's really quite simple," she smiled, though it did not, for the first time as Annabel, reach her eyes. "When I was young, ma guardians gave me a very long jump-rope for ma birthday. I wanted t'make use of it, but I had no one t'turn it, so I had to come up with more unconventional uses. I learned how t'lasso things when I was trying to get the best leaves off of trees to build li'l fairy homes." For a moment, traces of la-la land appeared in her eyes, and then faded. "That's when I figured out how to use a lasso – and it's very handy. When somethin' is on a high shelf at work and I have a scarf or somethin', I can get it down with minimal trouble. It's only when I don't have one – or the shelf pulls out – that I get in sticky situations." She shrugged, leaving Ren to battle with his memory of a shelf pulling out, and what had followed.

Maria was highly impressed. "That's so amazing, Annabel-onee-san! Can you teach me?"

"Sure! The boss Kyoko could, too, if ya like, since it was technically her jump-rope."

Lory tucked this information away for future use in organizing her acting skills; Ren did the same, but for slightly different reasons.

"So, Maria-chi," Annabel smiled, "Truth, Dare, or Joint Dare?"

"Joint Dare!"

"I Dare ya to help me make sure that cowboy there eats a healthy amount of dinner." She flashed Ren a grin. He shuddered.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Don't ya dare call me ma'am! I'm not that old yet!" Annabel's eyes flashed with something dangerous. Maria recoiled slightly.

"I-I'm sorry."

Suddenly, the cowgirl grinned and lightly poked the young girl on the arm. "Nah, I was just kiddin' ya 'round. Don't worry so much."

"Do you worry at all, about anything?" Maria inquired; this girl was so different from Kyoko-onee-san…

"Me? Nah. I live on impulse. It's dangerous, sure, but it's more fun than worryin' 'bout all the boundaries that the boss Kyoko deals with." She shot Ren a grin and raised her eyebrows, indicating that she knew some of what was happening to his mind. He gulped, fearing that this was going to be an interesting, challenging evening. This worry was confirmed when Lory, chuckling, herded them to the dining room, Natsuko slithering along behind them with the wings of her costume flapping in her self-made breeze. Lory plopped down on one of the benches at the table, Maria settled down next to him, and Sebastian made his presence only slightly detectable as he sat on Lory's other side – at the swan-man's insistence, of course. That left Ren to sit between Annabel and Natsuko on the other side of the table. The actor decided not to waste any brain cells on wondering why a swan-snake was at the table, or why Lory was not matching his own theme.

"An' beneath platter number one…" Annabel paused for dramatic effect, "omurice!" She giggled slightly, then added softly in an aside to Ren, "It's not Maui, though, so no worries."

He ducked his head slightly, and missed the rest of her food revelations, immersed as he was in the labyrinth of memories of that night. It was not until his plate disappeared from his placemat that he looked up, startled. Annabel and Maria were heaping generous portions of everything they'd cooked onto his plate; Maria was happily jabbering about how she hoped that Ren-sama enjoyed the food, as it had taken much convincing for grandfather to let them cook. "It was only when Annabel-onee-san commented that you liked her food best that grandpa relented," Maria confided.

"Really? Did you learn that in the Kyoko meeting, too?" he inquired of Annabel, raising one eyebrow.

"Yep!" she chirped, plonking his plate down in front of him. "I flipped through th' mental notes 'bout ya when I learned that Maria-chi wanted ya to come over, and saw that the only times that the boss Kyoko had ever seen ya clear a plate were the times she'd cooked for ya in one of her forms, and during the Maui incident." This last bit she said very quietly, but not quietly enough.

Lory beamed. He'd gotten affirmation; Kuon had emerged at least long enough in from of Kyoko to let out a cry for help, for strength. "Which is why I eventually relented! You do not eat nearly enough, my dear boy."

"The boss Kyoko worries about ya, ya know," Annabel commented in an off-hand way. "That's why she's happy whenever the Yashiro guy calls her to let her know when you've got a free evening. She hates seeing you skip meals, and that way she can spend time with ya while makin' sure ya won't die of malnourishment."

Ren mutely began eating the food, barely tasting the excellent dishes (with some odd flavor notes, since Maria had never cooked before) as Annabel's words echoed in his mind. …she's happy…she can spend time with ya…. Did she speak the truth? Yes, she was a portion of Kyoko, but she'd admitted to working on impulse – what if she'd spun some crazy tale, to see his reaction? But then, hadn't everything she'd said so far have some bit of Kyoko in it? She'd even mentioned the omurice… and it was true that his eating habits scandalized her…. "It makes me glad, as well. There's no one quite like Mogami-san – your 'boss Kyoko,' I mean."

"I dunno – I'd say that I'm like her in some ways," Annabel drawled, grinning, as she happily munched on her omurice.

"True – but you are her, after all; partially, at least." The grudges began to shrivel slightly as he returned her smile, and Natsuko slithered so that she lay across both of their laps. Then, without either of them noticing – they were, unbeknownst to them, oblivious to the world during their conversation – she wrapped herself firmly around their sides, so that they'd be unable to move more than a few inches further apart. Lory made a mental note to get more treats for his favorite anaconda.

"Yeah, according to the others, I'm the carefree one – wild child, if ya will – 'cause I'm all the fun stuff that the boss wants t'say an' do, but can't 'cause of propriety. The boss Kyoko is curled up in a corner of the meeting room, lamentin' 'bout how I'm treatin' y'all." She shrugged, taking another bite of her dinner and absently stroking Natsuko with her free hand. "I'm not really a proper one – I guess I prefer t'be more comfy with people, rather'n keepin' them at arm's length. Ya get me, right?" she inquired of Ren. "Eat."

Ren nodded before he realized what he was doing; this version of Kyoko was drawing out his American roots; his family had always been affectionate to a fault, so Japan's tendency to avoid casual touches had been a bit of a culture shock. That was why (or so he told himself) he had such difficulty when he had to refrain from touching Kyoko. Still nodding, he obediently put another bite of food in his mouth. Her cooking truly was the best – though, he noted, he might be slightly biased. A grin crept across his face while he watched her; as Annabel, she was even more openly enthusiastic when it came to her food than she was as herself, if that was even possible. She was still very careful not to waste any, naturally, but her happy aura was more tangible than usual.

Across the table, Lory and Maria were watching with interest (Sebastian remained impassive, ate his food, and then melted into the shadows). Their favorite prospective couple had created their own little world – and Annabel was allowing this to happen. Kyoko as herself would have taken care to include everyone in the conversation; but Annabel, who acted on impulse and cared not for Kyoko's set of self-rules, was perfectly happy to carry on a conversation with the man seated next to her. Lory spoke softly, so as not to break the bubble of happiness radiating from the two – honestly, that man needed to reign in his smile a little! "Wonderful, isn't it?"

Maria nodded gently. "I feel like I'm in a Disney movie." Sebastian took that as his cue to begin playing "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" over the house speakers.

Annabel noticed this, and started humming along and swaying as she ate; Ren smiled at this, and murmured something to her that the Takaradas did not catch. After a few more minutes of this, Maria had had her fill, and sighed loudly, "Onee-san, why don't you and Ren-sama just date already?"

Annabel turned to her, her smile still in place; the others were unaware that Kyoko was screaming at her from the Kyoko meeting room as she spoke her next words. "'Cause a, I'm just a part of the boss Kyoko, b, there's a loophole she needs some info to use, and c, she's not quite ready to face what she thinks'll be cowboy's –" At which point she gave an odd little jolt, and her gaze turned inward. She then began arguing with a voice inside her head.

"Why aren't I allowed t'say it?"

"Oh, come on! There's no need t'fret about the loophole! Once we tell him the stakes, he'll be sure to give us the info so we can get this over with! He wants t'tell anyway, an' just doesn't know how!"

"Oh, shut up! Ya worry too much! It's obvious on both accounts!"

As she continued in this vein, Lory's eyes widened. Annabel and the 'boss' Kyoko were obviously arguing over the secret of loving Ren – but what information did she need? What loophole, and for what? The last bit was obviously her fear of Ren's supposedly inevitable rejection of her love – completely unfounded, of course… but how did Annabel realize that, when Mogami-kun did not?

Annabel sighed in defeat and disgust. " Fine. Little miss prim-and-proper, worryin' 'bout images…."

Ren's mouth was slightly open after all of this; he was, the reader may see, desperately trying not to hope for what her slipped words had implied. They had, naturally, sent his mind spinning in all directions, nearly blowing away the lesson he had learned many times: Never expect anything vaguely romantic when Kyoko is involved. Sighing softly, he forced himself to review all the times he had learned this lesson, and instructed himself not to think that Annabel's words made it sound as if Kyoko was in love with him. He coupled this with Annabel's mutter about images, and added the steadfast sempai-kohai nature of their relationship. Having quenched this hope for reciprocated love, he fixed his expression and smiled at Maria. "I'm afraid that our schedules and mentalities will not allow it at this time, Maria-chan."

"Oh," she whispered, piecing things together. "I see." …and she did, more clearly than Ren himself did. "Are we continuing the game after dinner?"

"Sure!" Annabel chirped, recovered. "As soon as cowboy here finishes his plate."

In the end, it took much prompting from Maria, many minutes of chewing, and finally a nearly criminally cute puppy-dog expression from Annabel to get Ren to finish his plate. After the last had been employed, he had almost swallowed his plate in an attempt to appease her and remove the sinful expression from her face before he did something drastic. Lory smirked as he ushered them into a room full of odd props, snickering as Annabel crashed into Ren's lap when Natsuko refused to relinquish them. It was only when Annabel's hand fell to her lasso that the snake deigned to release them.

He had a few ideas of what to do with his favorite prospective couple once the game continued, and laughter bubbled from his lips, startling the others – except Sebastian, of course, who is Sebastian and therefore cannot be startled.

Thoughts?

Chapter Text

Ren, cooperate! You made me up the rating, and you're difficult to keep IC! If I owned SB, I wouldn't have these problems… *sighs* Why can't you be more like Natsuko and Sebastian, who are easy to write for and for whom I harbor a very deep love?

Lory, still snickering slightly, led them into a prop-filled room and had all except Sebastian (who is Sebastian and therefore exempt from such things) sit in a circle on the floor. Natsuko opted to sit in the center. Lory stroked his snake, and an idea struck him. "For this portion of the game, Natsuko will choose who is being asked! Natsuko love, just point at whomever you want to go next!"

Natsuko gave Lory a serpentine wink, indicating that she was on board for causing maximum chaos for everyone involved – not just Ren and Kyoko, as that gets dull after a while – and pointed her snout at Maria, hissing happily.

"Me?" Maria squeaked, a bit surprised when Natsuko flicked her tongue at her to confirm this. She'd assumed that Grandfather and Natsuko would want to simply alternate between Ren-sama and onee-san, so as to achieve maximum awkwardness and matchmaking potential. Apparently, she had been wrong. Perhaps they were trying to lull them into a false sense of security…. "Truth."

"What would ya do if ya found yourself in a soap-bubble-filled field of dandelions?" Annabel inquired, a bit of Kyoko slipping through in her innocence and oddity.

To the amusement of the two men (Sebastian had no time to be amused, as he was taking photographs), Maria deliberated this before answering thoughtfully, "I'd probably run through the field, popping as many bubbles and making as many wishes on the dandelions as I could. Then, when I got tired, I'd lie down in the grass and blow on the dandelions to make more wishes, or pop bubbles with my toes in the air."

Annabel nodded, equally serious. "Wise. The boss Kyoko wants me to tell you that, after that, you could also make dandelion chains."

"Oh, I've never done that!" Maria exclaimed.

"Never?" Annabel gasped, scandalized, jumping to her feet. "This must be amended at once! Oh… but it's raining…." She deflated slightly, and returned to the floor with an undignified little flomp . "Next time it's nice and the dandelions are out, we should make chains. Or we could use daisies."

"Okay!" Maria chirped.

The two would have doubtless continued in this chain for quite a while longer had Natsuko not deemed it time to move on to the next person. This time, she poked Ren's knee with the tip of her tail. He raised an eyebrow questioningly, and the snake poked him again, confirming that it was his turn. He sat back thoughtfully, and then announced to the group that he would follow Maria's example and take a Truth.

This time, Maria asked the Truth. "Did you enjoy dinner, Ren-sama?" Her tone was somewhat anxious, as she was afraid that she'd somehow messed up despite onee-san's watchful eye.

To her utter relief, Ren smiled (sans sparkles). "I did. I don't generally enjoy eating, but meals like that are an exception." Maria beamed in response, and Annabel smiled, sprawled on her stomach and propped on her elbows as she was – a far cry from Kyoko's usual seiza sitting.

"Yeah, ya usually just eat onigiri. It makes me feel bad for the Yashiro guy," she giggled, swinging her feet in the air and pretending not to notice when Ren's eyes followed her cowboy boots. She tossed him yet another wink, mentally laughing about the fact that he was still wearing the cowboy hat Sebastian had put on him before dinner.

Ren shrugged gracefully, and Natsuko gently butted her feather-bedecked head against Lory's similarly decorated arm, choosing him as the next in the game. "Dare!" Lory decreed, spreading his wings widely to punctuate his decision.

Maria, Ren, and Annabel – who was turning back into Kyoko excruciatingly slowly, in Ren's opinion, little bits peeking through here and there, but never enough to be her completely – put their heads together to debate their choices. Eventually, Ren commanded, "Remove your feather-socks without using your hands." This was somewhat tame, but Maria had wanted to see if her grandfather was capable of such a strange feat of feet.

"But of course," Lory smirked, lifting his feet into the air and slipping off his house slippers with his toes. Then, carefully, he hooked his toes into the sock on his other foot and slid it off, and then repeated this amazing feat of feet with his other foot. He raised his feet higher, and wiggled his bare feet triumphantly. "What do you think of that?"

Maria giggled, pleased.

"But aren't ya supposed t'be a swan, prez-oh-ma-prez?" Annabel inquired.

"I am a swan," Lory replied, one eyebrow raised. "Do you question my costuming?"

"Well, it's just that ya have the feet of another animal," she grinned. Then, upon seeing the confusion on their faces, elaborated, "Ya have the feet of a bear – bare feet!"

Even Natsuko groaned at that pathetic pun (Sebastian did not, as he is Sebastian and therefore immune to such puns); perhaps that was why she chose Annabel as her next victim in the game of interrogation and humiliation.

"I've been doin' mostly Dares, so I'll do a Truth," Annabel decided, nodding. Her hat bobbed with her, and the spurs on her boots clinked against each other as her feet brushed together – she had yet to stop swinging her feet. All of this was playing beautiful, casual havoc with Ren's mind – not that she realized it, of course… at least, Kyoko didn't. Whether Annabel did or not was anyone's guess – though Natsu probably knew from her vantage point in the Kyoko meeting room. (Kindly take a moment to pity Ren in advance for the next time Natsu emerges around him. She would be sure to wreak intentional havoc, which is much worse than Kyoko's unintended havoc by a long shot, in Ren's mind.)

Lory smiled, and went in for the kill; his voice remained light. "What information did you need for the loophole you mentioned earlier?"

Annabel froze, and for a moment Kyoko peeked through the cowgirl's mask, afraid; then she vanished. "Well, it's not really ma place t'say, but from what I can tell from the meetings, it's his," she nodded at Ren, "name." Before Ren could properly begin mentally freaking out, she continued, "But th' boss Kyoko told me t'mention that she knows that he doesn't want people t'know yet, so don't feel pressured or anythin', cowboy."

Ren blinked, and nodded slightly in appreciation of her consideration. How much did she already know? Did it even matter at this point? …Yes. Yes, it did – because he could only tell her when he could tell her everything, including the thing which she so desperately avoided. He could only confess when he'd prepared himself to tell her absolutely everything. Was that cowardly? Perhaps. Necessary for his sanity? Yes… but why did she need this for a loophole in the first place?

Natsuko rested her head on Lory's knee.

"Joint Dare!" he beamed, bringing Ren out of his musings.

Annabel spoke before any deliberation could occur, desperate to lighten Ren's suddenly heavy mood. "Do a joke battle with me!"

Lory nodded. "Are you sure that my jokes won't make you shutter ?" He tapped on a nearby window shutter.

"Nah, they just might be a pane ," she shot back without missing a beat.

"But it is a rather shady subject," he insisted.

"Really? I can see right through the act."

"It's curtains for these jokes, right?"

"Not yet; they're still transparent to me!"

"Are you sure you haven't been blinded by them?"

"No, we're not in Italy – I'm only every blinded by Venetian blinds !"

"I see that you took that window of opportunity !"

"Nah, it was all closed up – just like this pun battle!" Annabel grinned. "See? Our audience is groaning. I do believe that they've been critically joked."

Ren looked at them and asked weakly, "Are you done?"

"Please be done," groaned Maria, cringing from the jokes.

Natsuko answered for them, and placed her head on Ren's knee. The cowgirl reached across herself and began petting the large snake. Ren found himself feeling quite pleased to be sitting next to the girl, and not across from her – heaven only knows what kind of chaos might've been wreaked in his mind before this. Even now she was almost leaning completely on him – he elbow was propped on his thigh as her fingers stroked Natsuko's scales.

"Dare."

"Do a voice for someone named Pretentious Van Snooty!" Maria squealed suddenly, the image too amusing to keep in her mind. She'd had something else planned, but that could wait 'til later, right?

At this, Ren stretched his face slightly, and his eyebrows rode high on his forehead. "Nah-hon-hon! But of cahse," he sniffed, adopting an extremely fake and overly pompous accent, "whyevah would I naht? I ahm, aftah all, a true gentlemahn, and so –"

The rest of whatever he would have said went into nonbeing (that is to say, everything) when Annabel let out a rather large guffaw and crashed entirely onto his thigh, her elbow having slipped in her laughter. Ren froze; the girl was draped across his thigh, one of her hands resting on the knee opposite her, lost in a fit of hysterical laughter. Lory raised his eyebrows, fighting back a laugh himself – for more than one reason. Maria was giggling both at Ren's false accent (honestly, something like that should not come out of the Tsuruga Ren) and his abrupt expression change when onee-san's elbow gave out.

"Th-That was awesome, cowboy!" Annabel choked, her hand slapping his knee, getting an awkward little jerk from his foot in response. This redoubled her hysterics, and he decided to be content, rather than bemused, that she was comfortable to laugh at him – and on him – like this. Perhaps, when Annabel left, some of this overly wonderful familiarity would stay. He grinned down at her, not caring that Sebastian was taking photographs, or that Lory would tease him endlessly the next time the two were alone, or even that Maria was gaping as if blinded by his smile. No, all he cared about was that Kyoko – in one of her forms, at least – was happy in his presence, and that he was the cause of her happiness. That was all he could ever hope for, and it filled him to the brim with a happiness of his own.

There was also the fact that she was in physical contact with him – she was almost completely on his lap – and not having a major mental breakdown. As her laughter gradually died down and she attempted to regain her breath, she rested the side of her head on his leg. His fingers went, almost subconsciously, to her hair, and began gently twirling one of the pigtail braids of her wig. Lory's grin became a full-on smirk. Sebastian took more photos, some of which would be sent to Yashiro for shipping and blackmail purposes (mostly used to get Ren to eat, and to appease Yashiro when he grew impatient with his favorite prospective couple). Natsuko slithered over to Maria and nuzzled against her, breaking the young girl out of her spell – she'd been melting, and was all too aware of the fact that had she not already accepted that Ren-sama and onee-san were in love, her heart would have shattered into pieces because of this scene. She had to wonder exactly how much of Annabel was in Kyoko at the moment (to be perfectly honest, there was just enough Annabel present for Kyoko to rationalize leaning so casually on Ren without feeling guilty for enjoying it).

Natsuko, unhappy about being ignored, nuzzled more forcefully against Maria, and let out a rather loud hiss. As lovely as this fuzzy, fluffy moment was, everyone's favorite anaconda was bored. It was time for the game to continue, and Maria was the next victim.

"Eh?" Maria blurted, and then realized what she'd done.

Ren and Kyoko were therefore abruptly and most unceremoniously jerked out of their happy daze by Maria's exceptionally loud shriek. Kyoko slipped back into Annabel and sat up, nearly smashing the top of her head against Ren's chin in the process; Ren's hat fell onto the floor, unnoticed by all but Sebastian, who quickly put it away. Ren sighed, and removed his hand from her wig, taking care to trace it along her back as he moved it back to his side.

"S'matter, Maria-chi?" Annabel asked, re-adjusting her hat.

"My Dare," Maria explained. "I said one of the three sounds."

"Oh, right. I forgot!" the cowgirl laughed, and then crossed her arms on Ren's thigh and settled her chin upon them. "So it's your turn again?"

"Looks like it," Maria giggled.

Ren was silently rejoicing, yet his voice was somewhat strangled when he asked, "What do you choose?"

Maria cocked her head to one side, wondering what could spice things up a little. Her heart had not been shattered by the scene she'd witnessed – she was happy for them, really she was – but it still ached, as a young girl's love is powerful and pure. She quickly ruled out Truth; that might be slightly odd, and she didn't really have many secrets at this point in her life. Join Dare was also out, as onee-san and Ren-sama seemed unlikely to willingly move any time soon. "Dare."

After a moment of deliberation, Lory proclaimed, "Your Dare is to touch your nose with your tongue! If you are unable to do so, you must wear an outfit of my choosing!"

Maria winced; her grandfather had a taste for putting her in extraordinarily frilly outfits, as she was his favorite (and only) granddaughter, and he was loath to see her grow up. He also knew that she couldn't touch her nose with her tongue. "But Grandfather –"

"No buts! You chose Dare; accept your fate, my lovely Maria!"

Maria sighed, and attempted to touch her nose with her tongue. When her initial attempt failed, she grabbed her tongue with her fingers and pulled it upward (those costumes were so cumbersome); amazingly, this worked. She wiped her fingers and nose off, and beamed triumphantly at her grandfather. Annabel giggled, and sat up; she was in danger of falling asleep if she leaned against Ren any longer, so crisscross applesauce was her next best bet. His scent was intoxicating to almost all of the Kyokos (the exceptions being Mio and the Kuon boy).

Natsuko curled up in Annabel's lap, and nodded to Lory that she would not move anytime soon. Lory, noting this, beamed at the opportunity. "Until Natsuko moves, it shall be your turn over and over!" he beamed at Annabel, who rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Ya can interrogate me all ya like, but I don't know how much longer I'll hold out. The boss Kyoko is starting to come back."

Lory grinned. "That's quite alright. When that happens, we'll alter the questions accordingly."

"Alright. I'll take a Truth – don't wanna upset missy here by movin' around too much." She gestured to, and then began petting, the snake in her lap.

"Do you know if the – er – 'boss Kyoko' trusts me?" Ren inquired softly, not aware that his voice betrayed his nervousness.

"Yup. Implicitly," Annabel stated simply, not missing a beat; there was no hesitation or uncertainty in her voice. Ren's heart experience a series of loop-de-loops, and a new strain of hope blossomed. If she trusted him… did that mean he had a chance?

"Dare next?" Lory suggested. When Annabel nodded in a comfortable sort of way, he continued, "Then please kiss Ren on the cheek."

Ren was not certain whether he should be glaring at Lory or thanking him. Yes, he would like it, but for a Dare?

"Oh, I couldn't do that," Annabel stated calmly, her eyebrows raised. "Ma boyfriend wouldn't like it one bit. He's kinda the jealous type, you know."

A moment of blank silence followed these words, mostly filled with questions and utter disbelief. This was Annabel answering, right, not Kyoko? Because there was no way Kyoko would ever talk so casually about… about a boyfriend, if she did have one – but she couldn't, she was Kyoko . That was impossible…. Ren continued to spiral, to the point that he almost missed Maria's next words.

"What do you mean?" she asked weakly. "You didn't mention him before."

"Well, ya didn't ask!" came the laughing reply. Ren caught her syntax, and realized that this was Annabel talking. It did make sense, after all, for a girl like Annabel to be in a relationship; she had none of the worries or inhibitions that saddled Kyoko.

"Tell us about him!" Maria prompted, coming to the same conclusion Ren had. Perhaps Annabel had used Ren-sama for a basis? It was obvious, after all, that onee-san was in love with him. Kyoko's even considering giving Annabel a boyfriend when she herself claimed to be so against love was testament to this.

"Well, why not?" Annabel shrugged, smiling, her eyes light and her fingers tracing over Natsuko's scales. "For starters, he's blond—" she gave a slight pause, letting the torture in Ren's eyes seep through before continuing, "—but he looks pretty much like cowboy here with a few major differences. At least, he did the last time I saw him."

"Oh?" Ren inquired, fighting to keep his voice steady. For one horrible moment, he had believed that she'd start describing Fuwa. "What differences?"

"Well, for one, he's blond; for two, he's got green eyes, and for three, he's not 'zactly human," she gave him a roguish grin, as if they shared a secret – which, he realized, they did. "He's a fairy, you know, with th'most beautiful wings – even if they aren't 'zactly physical, and he's not 'zactly a fairy. I hope that he'll take me flying soon, once he realizes how nice they are. Y'see, he still thinks that they're all mucked up, 'cause the only ones he can see are the ones he needs to clean himself, not the ones closer to his back – the ones I cleaned up with ma spell. He likes nature nearly as much as I do, and we like to take walks by the water." Her eyes were soft as she continued quietly, and her gaze dropped to the snake in her lap, "I hope that he realizes soon that his wings will be fit for flying as soon as he can give himself permission to fly free."

Ren swallowed, and ducked his head. It was a coincidence, just a coincidence, that she chose to use Corn as a reference for Annabel's boyfriend. It was just a coincidence that she mentioned that he wasn't really a fairy, and that he didn't realize that his wings were fit for flying, if only he allowed himself to fly. It was just a coincidence… just a coincidence that she chose a part of him to be the one whom part of her loved. It was just a coincidence that she'd said that she'd help clean his wings… and that she knew he could fly.

It was just a coincidence, right?

The game continued with Maria and Lory asking Kyoko innocent questions and having her do funny – yet scarily accurate – impressions of people they knew. Ren sat quietly, attempting to come to terms with what she had said – how much she knew, and what she could possibly mean. Could he hope? No… it was just a coincidence… right?

He was pulled sharply from his thoughts by a flicking feeling in his left ear. He jolted, and realized that Natsuko had, in her attempts to get him to realize that it was his turn, simply stuck her tongue into his ear. He shuddered slightly from the odd sensation, and spoke without thinking. "Dare."

Maria grinned in a way that made him realize that this was a mistake. Next to him, the elder of the two girls shifted; she was now sitting on her knees, in seiza. The younger girl giggled, and said, "I Dare you to whisper something sweet but true into Kyoko-onee-san's ear." She knew that it was necessary to address the elder girl thusly, so she could not argue that Ren's words were meant for Annabel, not her.

He weighed his options. Yes, one of the conditions of the Dare was to be truthful, but he doubted that she would believe him if he told her how deeply he cared – and that needed to be said only when he was ready to offer her all of him, including what he hid from the world. He had an opportunity to say something, and possibly have her believe it… but what to say? What did he dare say to her that would get his point across without really revealing it all? He shifted tentatively closer to her, placing one hand on the side of her away from him so that he engulfed her without trapping her. He swallowed and leaned close to her, eyes shutting when his lips nearly brushed against her ear. He murmured to her, softly, so that none but she could hear what he said.

Lory and Maria watched, intrigued. Kyoko – who had fully returned while Ren was in his stupor – sat, slightly stiff, in Ren's almost-embrace. While at first downcast from something she refused to name, her eyes were soon lit with curiosity at his murmur. "Of course, what of them?"

Ren murmured softly once more, his lips now brushing against her earlobe. Kyoko's face grew pink – though from his words or his touch, the observers could not be certain (except for Sebastian, of course, who is Sebastian and therefore hears all). But even they could not miss the look of absolute longing that she gave him as he drew away, one that nearly snapped his control and completely melted Lory's heart – a look of longing tinged with something she refused to name, a dark something broken only by the purest light… a something that he could not yet give her, and a something that she was not yet ready to receive. Lory stood abruptly, grabbed Ren by the scruff of the neck, and promptly dragged him from the room for a thorough yet fruitless interrogation. (Of course, had he thought to ask Sebastian, he would have found out instantly, but he did not, so Lory's curiosity was doomed to remain unsatisfied for several months.)

Back in the room, Maria snapped Kyoko out of her daze, wisely choosing not to question what Ren-sama had said. She could ask Sebastian later; he'd undoubtedly heard everything, as he is Sebastian and therefore hears all. "Do you want to play in the bubble room, onee-san?"

Kyoko's mouth dropped open at these words. "There's a bubble room?"

Maria nodded excitedly. "It even has colored bubbles! They're new, but Grandfather managed to get some in every color of the rainbow! And the colors wash out really easily, so you don't really have to worry about stains!"

The elder girl gasped excitedly and jumped to her feet. "Can we go there? Please?"

"Yes, come on!" Maria grabbed her honorary onee-san's hand and dashed from the room, startling a very serious-looking Lory and Ren. "We're going to the bubble room, Grandfather!" Maria called as they passed them, Kyoko's face an image of childlike glee.

This image, combined with the rest of her accursed cowgirl outfit, played such lovely havoc with Ren that he was forced to put a hand to his forehead. It had been bad enough for him when she had been Annabel and wearing that outfit… but now she was her true, innocent self, and she was still wearing something straight out of the one fantasy he had been unable to quash prior to meeting her again. He felt almost guilty for the images running through her mind… and what Annabel had told Maria earlier was not helping in the slightest… The boss Kyoko could [teach you how to lasso things] too, if ya like, since it was technically her jump rope. And then, to make matters even worse, her words to him only moments prior to that rang through his mind: Next time I'll ride you for sure, okay? It's a promise!

She had said "you," not "ya," he realized with a jolt. Had that been just a slip of her getting used to her new character, or had she actually reverted to Kyoko to make that promise to him? And, if so… what did that mean?

Lory watched, amused, as Ren stared down the hall long after the girls had disappeared into the bubble room, Sebastian following them silently to take more photos. Honestly, the boy should've outgrown that fantasy by now… but then, the boy was in love with a girl who still firmly believed in fairies, so he supposed that certain allowances must be made – and it made for such wonderful fodder for slow torture. Really, he was amazed that the boy's restraint had lasted this long…. He shook his head, and decided to let Ren off the hook for the moment, vowing to find out later what he had whispered to make Kyoko look at him in such a way. He began walking, paused, then turned back and beckoned to Ren. "To the bubble room they have gone, and so shall we! Away!" Ren followed, amused, as Lory mimed flapping down the hall, with Natsuko slithering along with her non-functional wings flapping in her wake.

There followed much fun among the bubbles – including the special bit of soapy chaos that followed when Maria inquired of Ren, "Did you know that onee-san is really ticklish?"

Ren paused, and turned Cain's sideways grin on Kyoko. He'd have to keep that in mind for when the Heels next came out to play. "Oh, really?"

"Yes!" Maria's eyes gleamed. "If you don't believe me, we could test it out…."

And in that moment, Kuon's lighter side broke through Ren's exterior, causing a mischievous grin to plaster itself across his face. His eyebrows quirked. "How so?"

Maria motioned for him to step on one side of Kyoko, who was happily popping the soap bubbles and dancing among the soap fairies. The young girl took the other side. "Like… THIS!" she squealed, lunging at Kyoko and beginning to tickle her sides. The elder girl, pulled from her fairy trance, shrieked with laughter.

Ren grinned, and took up his portion of it – pulling Kyoko against him with one arm so that she could not escape Maria, and began tickling his love. She shrieked and squirmed from laughter, and would have fallen from weakened knees had he not been holding her up… but was not fighting to get away.

"Please… mercy…" she panted between laughs, one hand finding his shirtfront and gripping it for support. Abruptly, his mind switched gears.

Maria, oblivious, continued tickling her onee-san, and Kyoko, also oblivious, continued laughing helplessly, unable to escape or tickle in return. Lory, aware of the change, swooped in as the ever-majestic swan and tactfully broke up the tickle-fight. Kyoko sank, giggling, to the floor, and hugged Maria. Maria hugged her in return, and a soap bubble popped on Natsuko's snout when she joined them. Their laughter redoubled, and they all stayed in the bubble room until Maria, exhausted, fell asleep in Kyoko's arms. She then volunteered to take the sleeping girl up to bed, and only protested slightly when Ren insisted on carrying the young girl. Lory watched, heart melting, as the two carried her up to her bedroom like young parents with their first child. He grinned as Kyoko ushered Ren out of the room so she could change Maria into her pajamas… and then failed to come out.

Lory poked his head into the room, and was amused to find Kyoko sitting on the floor, now wearing her own pajamas, fast asleep and leaning against Maria's bed. Maria slumbered contently under the covers, her hand in her onee-san's. He motioned to Ren (Sebastian had already taken a picture), who peered cautiously around the doorframe. Lory stood to one side and allowed Ren to step into the room; Ren padded soft across the carpeted floor and gently lifted Kyoko from it. He then pulled back the covers with one hand – careful not to disturb either girl in her slumber – and laid his beloved next to her younger sister. He pulled the covers over both of them, dared to place a kiss on Kyoko's cheek (she slept as if she were a tree, after all), and exited the room.

"You are really a hopeless romantic at heart when she's involved, aren't you?" Lory smiled as the younger man exited the room.

Ren merely chuckled softly in return, and nodded, Natsuko slithering past him to join the girls in slumber.

Only Sebastian, as he is Sebastian and therefore sees all, was aware that the balloon from the girls' game of balloon Ping-Pong had finally chosen to detach itself from the ceiling as Ren moved Kyoko… so only he knew that it had awakened the girl in time to feel Ren's kiss and hear Lory's words by landing on her exposed hand…. So only he saw the soft smile that graced her face as the door closed, and she slipped once more into the lands of slumber.

The girls had no way of knowing that they would be abruptly awakened the next morning by a mariachi band of pumpkins, led by Lory, bursting into Maria's room; nor did they have any way of knowing that the okami-san and taisho of Darumaya would take an instant liking to Maria when she hugged Kyoko goodbye the next morning, an impression that would only improve when Kyoko gushed about her honorary little sister. Nor did they know that Ren would sleep very little that night, or that he would relent the next morning and tell his manager that Kyoko had almost ridden him – only to add that she'd not wanted to get his trousers dirty by crawling around on the floor, playing horsey; nor did they know that his manager would inflate and then deflate with excitement and disappointment, respectively, and these words. They had no way of knowing these odd and happy things; instead, they slumbered on happily, adrift in la-la land and the field of dreams.

That night, Kyoko slept especially soundly, truly aware for the first time in her life that someone loved her – and that someone cuddled up to her elder sister happily in her sleep, glad that her onee-san was on her way to recovery, through love and laughter, from the pains of her past.

I hope that you enjoyed the story! :D It was fun, if a bit odd, to write. ^^

FYI, colored bubbles actually exist. I have purple ones that I bought at Target. They are awesome!

Please review! Do you have any guesses for what Ren whispered to Kyoko?