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It had taken Kyoko awhile to calm herself down when she returned home that evening. A strange sluggishness from the drug and the adrenaline consumed her body, while her mind was filled with thoughts of Tsuruga-san is in love with a terrible woman. She was violent, she was dangerous, she should tell him... but would it be right? She had learned of Shotaro's treachery on her own and it had consumed her. But he might not believe me if I tell him the truth. He'd think I'm a jealous kohai... or worse, a foolish girl in love herself.
There weren't any good options at this late hour. Yashiro promised to speak with her first thing tomorrow morning, but she already knew Yashiro would want Kyoko to tell Ren what happened. He doesn't understand. Ren only tells a chicken the truth.
She tried to distract herself with the aching of her wrists and stomach - the places were cold hands and cold metal had held her over a railing. Eventually, she fell into blackness.
She was ripped out of it too soon by the sound of her phone ringing. Bleary-eyed, she grabbed it and answered. "Hello?"
"Mogami-san?" His velvet-smooth voice did nothing to prove to her that she hadn't fallen into a dream.
"Tsuruga-san?"
"I'm sorry for waking you, Mogami-san, but I'm in quite urgent need of your company. Can I pick you up?" While the words were apologetic, there was minimal remorse in his tone. He seemed happy. Almost... giddy.
"Huh? I - yes. Yes? I can be outside of the restaurant in ten minutes."
"Excellent. I'll be there in ten."
She hadn't bothered to change into pajamas, so it was easy for her to straighten herself out and collect her things. It also made it more believable that she hadn't dreamed of the conversation. She was wide awake when she stepped onto the sidewalk, the night air chilling her, and the occupant of the Porsche making her stomach leap. He was smiling at her.
She hopped in the front seat and swallowed. "What's going on, Tsuruga-san?" As she turned to fasten her seatbelt, vivid yellow in the backseat caught her eye. "And what is that?!" Her grudges barely had the strength to rise as she saw a massive vase of daffodils, daisies, roses, and baby's breath in the back seat. He's going to confess. And he's bringing me with him to make sure he doesn't chicken out. Her heart blinked out.
"It's a gift," he said with an easy smile. "For a friend in the hospital. She had a baby." He reached over and clipped her seatbelt for her, his fingers grazing hers for only a moment. It gave definition to a world full of fuzzy edges.
"A baby?" was all she could muster as she reeled. What's going on?
He reached in the center console and offered her a coffee cup. "Here, drink up. Again, I'm sorry, I know you must be exhausted after the audition." She took it, and he drove. "And 'friend' might be a stretch, maybe just 'confidant'... regardless, Kana Kusunoki, have you heard of her? Her wife, Akani, just had a baby. They were wed about a year ago overseas and happened to find a doctor willing to help them have a child, you know, with all the secrecy and scandal that could incite. Akani-san's family is not accepting of the marriage, and all of Kana-san's family is in Sapporo, so they won't arrive until late tomorrow. Well, regardless, Moms and baby are both doing well and we're going to go see them!" He grabbed his mostly-empty coffee cup and took a sip.
Kyoko clutched her paper cup as tightly as she could without making the top pop off. "But I don't even know them! It'd be incredibly rude for me to join you."
He shook his head. "You're bringing them flowers, you couldn't possibly be rude. And they don't have a lot of people they can share this moment with." His tone grew soft. "I know you have... problems because of your mother. But you're always able to help people find their fire after they've been dealt a blow. And this... something like this should truly be a happy occasion."
Kyoko nodded. "Okay. Okay, I can... I can do this. What... what do you say to a new mother?" This is easier than watching him confess to another woman. It was a pathetic thought, but true.
His tone brightened. "'Congratulations', and 'the baby is beautiful', and 'how precious'. As for anything else... I don't know. I've never even held a baby that young."
"I haven't either!" she panicked. "I don't want to hurt the baby!"
He chuckled as he pulled into the parking lot. "There are countless doctors and nurses around. Their entire job is to make sure that we don't hurt the baby." When they parked, he sent a quick text to Kana to notify them of their arrival.
The bouquet was massive even as Ren held it, but as they walked away from the car, he took her hand in his free one. Her mind froze as her body enjoyed the warmth. She should tell him to let go because someone could see. Even if Morizumi-san doesn't have feelings for him anymore, she's petty. She could still try to get me. She should pull her hand away because she didn't think her heart could take getting lead on like this. But she couldn't bring herself to deny the smallest bit of comfort she had seen that day, so she didn't.
"Tsuruga-kun," a woman with long, curly hair and a tracksuit greeted her. She smiled warmly despite the weariness on her face. "Thank you so much for coming." She gave an incredulous look to the flowers. "They're quite beautiful, but they're bigger than the baby."
He chuckled. "Kana-san, this is Kyoko-chan." Kyoko's stomach lurched at the form of address. Ren continued without a second thought. "You may recognize her from Dark Moon if you saw it, she was - "
Recognition flashed on her face. "Mio? Goodness, that's right. Thank you for coming, it's nice to meet you."
"N-no, thank you, Kusunoki-san!" she exclaimed, squeezing Ren's hand tighter. "Forgive a stranger appearing at such a personal time."
Kana shook her head and waved for them to follow. "If you think about it, everyone's a stranger to little Satomi."
As they walked, Kyoko had to wonder again if perhaps she was wrong the first time, and was in fact, dreaming. However, her clothes hadn't changed, and the signage on the hallways remained readable no matter how many times she looked away. And Ren was holding her hand.
The room was dimly lit when they entered. "Hello, hello," Ren said softly as they entered.
"Come in," a soft voice said from the hospital bed. Akami Kusunoki spared them a soft smile before turning it to the bundle in her arms.
"Told you he'd bring his girlfriend, not his manager," Kana said as she took her place by Akami. "This is Kyoko-chan, from Dark Moon!"
Kyoko swallowed hard. "I - I'm not -"
Akami rolled her eyes. "No need to be coy here, we won't tell anyone." She smiled at the flowers. "Thank you, Tsuruga-kun. You can put that by the window, and there is hand sanitizer on that wall, as well."
Ren put the flowers in the window sill and, only when preparing to scrub his hands let go of Kyoko's. She followed his lead, the scent of alcohol making her somewhat queasy. They approached the bed.
Sparse, black hair covered the sleeping baby's head. It was hard to tell how much was baby and how much was swaddle, but the blanket seemed to cocoon the little one from the chaos of the world around her. "She has Mom's hair," Kana quipped, eyes darting to her wife's short, cropped hair.
"You'll regret that long hair when you're up feeding her at three A.M.," Akami quipped. "Who would like to hold her first?" She looked to Ren and Kyoko.
Kyoko couldn't even stammer out a proper refusal before Ren said, "I would."
"Hold your hands out," Kana said. He did, and Akami placed the top part of the bundle in one of his massive palms, and the lower half in the other. His eyes went wide and he slowly, carefully pulled the baby against his chest, sliding his hands along to better cradle her.
Kyoko thought she would crack. "She's beautiful," she whispered and rested a hand on Ren's arm as she watched the slightest rise and fall of Satomi's chest.
"Congratulations, Tsuruga. Your girlfriend now has baby fever," Kana chuckled.
Kyoko thought she'd crack in a different way now. "But I'm not - Morizumi-san is -" She cut herself off when she heard the bundle grunt. Only the slightest noise, but her and Ren watched the baby for any signs of distress. None came, and Satomi slept on.
Ren then turned part of his attention to Kyoko. "Sorry, I only heard half of what you said. Kimiko Morizumi? You had an audition against her today, didn't you?"
Among other things . "Y-yes."
Ren nodded absently as he watched the baby. "It's been a few years since I've seen her. Superstitious girl, that one. Hopefully, she's over it. Had me say some sort of blessing over one of her rings to help her perform."
Kana snorted while Akami rolled her eyes. "Actors," Akami muttered.
Time slowed for Kyoko. "I... thought the ring was her White Day present."
"No... no, she asked for shoes for White Day." He looked up to Akami. "Are they always so sleepy?"
Kana's eyes went wide. "She asked? For shoes? And you gave them to her."
"I felt sorry for her," he said. "She had feelings for me, and I wanted to be gentle. She was young. I guess I was too, but she was... not mature. And superstitious, like I said."
She lied. She lied, she's a liar, she's not who -
"You're the one I feel sorry for," Kana said with a shake of her head. "She clearly can't be that innocent, because she was trying to psych Kyoko-chan out with stories of your time with her."
Akami sighed. "You're all ridiculous. There is a baby, right here, just doing her best at existing and you're talking about work."
Chagrined, Kyoko crept her fingers up closer to Satomi's head and brushed her hair, feather-light. "Did she? Try to intimidate you?" Ren pried.
"Yes," Kyoko whispered, still staring at her fingers. The moment hung until Kyoko asked, "Can I hold her?"
Ren nodded, then looked to Kana. Kana came over and helped Ren transfer the baby to Kyoko's arms. Satomi was so light but Kyoko's arms felt weak, so she found a chair and took a seat. Ren stood next to the chair.
Akami's nurse came in and spoke with her for a time, but Kyoko merely focused on the tiny sleeper in her arm. Quiet. Serene. Delicate. She's doing her best. It filled Kyoko was peace.
Too soon, Satomi started fidgeting and grunting. Kyoko looked up in a panic. The nurse just laughed. "She's hungry. She used to have an all-you-can-eat buffet at her beck and call. Now she has to ask."
Kyoko nodded and rose, awkwardly offering the baby back to Akami. "Thank you, so much. It... it was an honor."
Akami smiled warmly and took the baby back. "It was nice to meet you, Kyoko-chan. Take care."
She and Ren left and made their way down the hall. She wished that the same madness that overtook him before would compel him to take her hand again. "Are you feeling okay, Mogami-san?" Ren asked. He stopped them in an empty hallway. "If this stirred up feelings about your childhood, I am so sorry. I wasn't thinking -"
Kyoko shook her head, staring him in the chest instead of the eyes. If she tilted her head up any further, she'd feel dizzy. "It's not about that. It was just a long day, Tsuruga-san, and I'm still processing everything that happened. I'm still not even over Morizumi-san and the audition."
Ren watched her carefully. "Intimidation can be a factor in auditions, but I can teach you some techniques to block it out."
Almost delirious, she shook her head again. "No, no it's not that, part of me is relieved. I thought you were in love with her."
Ren's expression grew wild. "Again, there are ways to ignore physiological attacks like that."
It was hilarious, how wasn't he getting it? "I'm talking about the physical!" She almost laughed. "I thought you were in love with someone who tried to throw me off a building!"
He stilled. "She tried to kill you?"
His face was a slate. It's not fair! Show me something. Was I wrong, do you actually love her?! "She didn't kill Koenji-san, so - so she probably wasn't trying to kill me!"
His eyes darkened. "That's supposed to make me feel better?" His eyes darted around the hallway. "You need to see a doctor, immediately." He put a hand on her back and marched her towards the nurse's station.
"I'm okay, Tsuruga-san, stop!" she argued. He stopped walking, but the glare persisted. "The drug wore off, I just need to rest, I promise!"
"Drug?" he growled, and he nudged her to keep walking. "You need to be examined. You're in shock or something, or - " His eyes continued to dart. "Where is any medical staff? And where was Yashiro?! He was supposed to take care of you and - wait. He had a meeting with the president this evening." He scoffed. "And still neglected to tell me what it was about. He goes on and on about you and me, but this happens and he doesn't even mention it?!"
"I'm fine!" she said once again. "I just need to sleep!"
"Well then, I'm not!" His voice cracked. "I need to remain under supervision until my anger subsides or else I'm going to do something regrettable. And you might as well get examined while we're at it."
"Sir!" A middle-aged woman in teal scrubs approached them. "Ma'am? Are you two okay?"
"No," Ren said, a flicker of relief in his voice. "The woman I love was assaulted today and she only just told me about it. So, admit her, or me, or something, please."
What?! It was Kyoko's turn to give Ren a wild stare. He simply watched the nurse.
The nurse gave them a hard look before nodding. "Come with me."
"What?!" Kyoko exclaimed, her grudges turning into butterflies in the depths of her stomach. It's a dream, it's all a dream, it's not real, it's -
" Follow me," the nurse insisted, and Ren nudged her along. She followed dutifully.
"What are you saying, Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko's voice warbled as they walked. "Don't toy with me, don't pretend, or use me as practice for -"
The nurse shoved two clipboards at them. "Fill them out, in full. I'm paging a doctor, but don't you two move a muscle."
Kyoko stared at the form, blinked, and blinked again. The words stayed the same. "Me...?" she asked, in a daze. "The girl you love is... me?" She looked up from the clipboard.
He looked up from his as well. Exhausted. "Yes. You. I'm in love with you."
The air left her lungs. Like an exhale, she said, "I love you too." They watched each other for a moment and then chuckled. She turned back to her form and filled out her name, "Kyoko Mogami."