Oh my god this thing took forever for no freaking reason. Enjoy.

Kyoko walked into Tsuruga-san's apartment building, her new card key clutched tightly in one hand. Okay. Okay, I can do this. This is fine. We're just hosting. I know how to host. I was literally trained in hosting. I don't need to freak out. Kusunoki-san and her girlfriend are just coming over to have dinner with us. It's not a double-date because we're not dating. This is just… so the protected ones can meet. And I am there to cook. As a thank-you to Kusunoki-san for her help. She walked past security, waving to Yamada-san, one of the evening security guards. He spared a moment to smile at her in greeting before turning his attention back to the person in front of him. Kyoko pressed the elevator button.

"Ah, Mogami-san!" Kyoko turned to see Yamada-san hurrying towards her, the woman he'd been talking to in tow. "Are the two of you expecting any guests this evening?"

The woman's eyes widened at his words.

"Ah, yes, we're expecting two guests tonight." She blushed a bright red at his wording. It made it sound like she lived with Tsuruga-san!

"Ah, alright, then." He turned and bowed to the woman in apology. "Forgive my questioning, miss. It's just rare for that apartment to have any visitors. Ah -" his eyes darted to Kyoko- "present company excluded, as always."

Kyoko smiled at him. It's really weird how nice they are to me. (It wasn't that Ren had put her on his permanent guest list after the Natsu incident, not at all….)

"No, thank you for your thoroughness," the woman replied, bowing as well. She straightened up and turned to Kyoko. "Well, shall we?"

The elevator dinged, right on cue, and Yamada returned to his post as the women stepped into the elevator. Kyoko snapped into host mode as she swiped her card key (something Ren had fought long and hard to get her to keep) and pressed the button for Kuon's floor. "So, you're Kusunoki-san's partner?"

"Er, yes. Please call me Yuri." She bowed. "Kana should be here in a few minutes. She said something about having the paparazzi follow her, for appearances."

"That's good to know!" She smiled and led the way out of the elevator. "Oh, and please call me Kyoko." Okay, good. Names established. She unlocked the door, glad to see Ren's shoes already there. "Tsuruga-san, we're here!"

"Welcome home!" came a call from another room, followed by something that sounded like metal scraping. Yuri winced.

"Oh, no, he started cooking without me." Kyoko's host persona broke for just a moment. She had been teaching him to cook lately, on what were not dates. He had been getting better under her tutelage, certainly, but wasn't anywhere near cooking for guests. She turned to Yuri, removing her own shoes with one hand and offering her a pair of slippers with the other. "Please have a seat in the living room. What would you like to drink?"

"Um, water would be fine." She took the proffered house slippers. "Thank you."

"Of course!" Kyoko shot her a brilliant smile and headed to the kitchen as fast as her decorum would allow. Ren was at the stove, determinedly scraping at something that probably used to be food but was now just a mass stuck to his frying pan. "Hi! Did you forget to grease the pan again?"

"Maybe. Hi." He grinned sheepishly at her. "Who's here?"

"Yuri-san. She said that Kusunoki-san should be here in a few minutes. Will you take her some water while I get started?" She turned off the burner to salvage what she could.

"Alright." He surrendered his spot and fetched one of the good glasses. "What should I do when I get back?"

"Mmm, maybe stay out there until Kusunoki-san gets here? Then you can help prep the sides?" She performed her kitchen magic, saving whatever Ren had tried to do. It really wasn't as bad as when they'd first started cooking together; this was still edible, just a little charred. This could be worse. This is not an omen. I just need to focus on cooking and everything will be okay.

Kyoko worked on preparing dinner, kicking Ren out of his (let's be real, her) kitchen twice in the process. Once to get Kusunoki-san a drink when she arrived and the next, no, Tsuruga-san, it's alright, I'm good in here you go host. I'm sure it's been a while since you've gotten to chat with them. Everything went smoothly, and all too soon (in her opinion), dinner was ready. She poked her head out into the living room, where Yuri-san was laughing at something her partner had said. "Tsuruga-san? Could you help me carry things, please?" She had learned from experience that Ren liked to help. Plus, as a host, he should help present the meal.

The moment that Ren left the room to help, Yuri turned to Kana. "Okay, so you saw her just now, right? Am I insane or is she a literal child?"

Kana bit her lip. "I didn't get a good look at her. But he did say that she was younger than him…."

"If she's too young I'm chopping his dick off." Yuri folded her arms, squinting at the kitchen.

"Good plan." She kissed her partner's cheek just as Ren and Kyoko returned, laden with dishes. "Hi, Kyoko-chan, right? Please call me Kana. I really am sorry about the whole kiss thing."

"Oh, um, it's nice to meet you!" Kyoko bobbed as best a bow as she could while holding food. "And it's alright, since it wasn't a real kiss."

"How mature," Yuri noted, eyes boring holes in Ren as he set down the food he was carrying. "How old are you, Kyoko-chan?"

"Oh, I'm seventeen!" She was all smiles, laying out the food, and was not flustered by how beautiful they were. She was not thinking that they were almost as gorgeous as Moko. "But I'm a year behind in school, because I had to take a gap year to afford it." That was the explanation she gave people who didn't know the truth, and hey, it was close enough.

"Seventeen?" Kana echoed. She raised an eyebrow very pointedly at Ren. Hope you like being dickless.

"Oh my god, you're a baby," Yuri half-laughed, hiding her shock. "I don't mean that to be rude, I'm sorry. I just - when I was your age I still thought I was straight."

Be a good host. Engage with questions when you don't know how to respond. "It's alright! Um, if you don't mind my asking, how did you find out?" Wrong question. Rude. Backtrack. "I'm sorry, that was too personal! Please ignore me."

"No, it's okay." She gave her an easy smile. "We're all friends here, and I don't mind. I figured it out when I was at college - a new environment, you know? That, plus I made a few friends who already knew who they were and pointed out that hey, Yuri, gushing over your best friend and fantasizing about her isn't very hetero of you. Neither is getting super-jealous over her maybe having a boyfriend because no one could be good enough for her." She laughed. "So yeah, nothing big. Just a gradual realization that there was a reason I'd never had a boy-crazy phase."

"But…" that sounds like me with Moko. "Isn't it normal to praise your best friend? And make sure she isn't dating someone creepy?"

Kana and Yuri exchanged a look. Baby bisexual. "To a point, yeah," Kana answered. "But not that much more than your other friends."

Ren started serving food, his mind connecting the dots faster than Kyoko's due to his time in L.A. Great. Another reason to be jealous of Kotonami-san. "This looks delicious, Mogami-san."

Kyoko was pulled out of her ponderings, shoving those thoughts into a box to be examined at another time. "Oh, thank you! I hope you all like it. I wasn't sure what you would like," she added, turning to the couple across from her, "so I made a variety of light, traditional dishes. I hope you enjoy them."

Two bites into dinner, Kana looked up at Ren. "I'm stealing her."

"What?"

"Your girlfriend. Yuri and I are taking her away. Her cooking is way too good. She's ours now." She extended a hand across the table to Kyoko, acting debonair. "Come, run away with us, away from this brute who doesn't even like food. We'll build you an industrial kitchen."

Kyoko's face, which had only just returned to its normal hue, flared up bright pink at being called Ren's girlfriend. "We're - um, thank you for the offer, but, um, we're - we're not dating yet." Fairies danced around her at the thought of an industrial kitchen. No, focus, Kyoko.

Something on Yuri's and Kana's faces cleared, which struck Kyoko as odd. "You're not?"

"Neither of us are really ready for a relationship. We both have goals we want to reach, first," Ren supplied.

Kana stared at him for a moment, assessing. "That's… really smart of you. Better than I expected, to be honest. Not from you, Kyoko-chan, you're clearly a genius," she gestured at the food, ignoring Kyoko's flustered protests and turning back to Ren, "but you. For someone who plays so many romantic roles, you're usually an absolute dumbass when it comes to actual romance. So good on you for doing this one right." You won't become a eunuch… for now.

"Gee, thanks," Ren replied.

"Okay, we're still adopting her, right? She's ours now." Yuri said, her plate half-clean already. At Ren's look, she rolled her eyes. "C'mon, every girl can use a few onee-sans." We were going to be nice to her regardless, but she needs guidance and also some extra sets of eyes on her. Just in case Mr. Bigshot Actor gets any ideas.

"Oh, absolutely. Any objections, Kyoko-chan?" When Kyoko shook her head, stunned, Kana continued, "Excellent. Ooh, babe, you know who would love her?"

"Kokona?"

"Kokona!" Her eyes took on an appraising gleam as she reached over and put a finger under Kyoko's chin, tilting her head this way and that. "My stylist. She'd love you - you have just the right bone structure, and you're still growing, so your look is malleable. Hell, we could probably get you a few modelling gigs. Any interest in show biz?"

Kyoko was bright red from the praise. "Er, I'm a talent at LME. I want to be an actress, though."

"Really?" Yuri's eyes lit up. "Ooh, new blood, even better, Kokona'll love you. What've you been in that we might've seen?"

"Dark Moon?" Kyoko offered. "I played Mio."

The two stared at her for a moment, before laughing. "No, seriously, who have you been?" Kana asked.

She glanced at Ren, who nodded encouragingly. "I'm not joking, I was Mio."

The former AV star glanced between them, then examined her drink carefully. Finally, she looked back up at Kyoko and said, "Well, shit, girl. You're terrifying."

"Thank you…?" she replied, a bit taken aback by the statement.

"What else have you been in?" Yuri asked, leaning forward eagerly.

Don't do it, you're gonna freak her out. You're not even dating her yet, you have no reason to have all of her stuff on physical DVDs. Ren fought his Hizuri instincts. Don't do it. She's going to take it a weird way and then it'll end up worse.

While Ren struggled with his internal monologue, Kyoko gave a brief run-down of her career thus far, finishing with, "And I'm currently playing Momiji in Sacred Lotus in the Mire."

"Yeah, we're stealing you. You're too cute to leave with this brute. C'mon, let's go." Kana half-stood, extending her hand again for Kyoko to take. Kyoko, overwhelmed by the beautiful woman complimenting her, placed her hand in Kana's without thinking. Kana cut Ren a swift, smug look before pressing a kiss to Kyoko's hand. Kyoko squeaked, her face turning pink, and snatched her hand back.

"Babe." Yuri elbowed her girlfriend's side, making her sit back down. "Have some chill before one of them explodes."

Kyoko laughed awkwardly, not quite sure how to handle… well, any of this. "Can I pass anyone anything?"

Ren stirred the delicious food on his plate as Yuri accepted more, trying to push down his jealousy. If I tried to kiss her hand, would she react like that? The last time I kissed her cheek, she panicked. So why does Kana get the cute blush and squeak? Granted, it's not like he had ever tried to kiss her hand, much less since they had learned about each other's feelings. Would it be different now? Maybe last time was before she felt that way. Or before she had been willing to admit it to herself. Or maybe kisses in general were scarier back then, not just ones from him.

"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko whispered, while Kana and Yuri were busy talking about the food. "Are you alright?"

I wish it was just us. "Yes, sorry. I got distracted and was thinking about a script," he replied in an equally low tone.

She nodded, but didn't quite believe him. She would have to ask him later, after their guests were gone. Their guests, because she was helping him host. Like they were really together. She blushed and ducked her head under the guise of taking a bite.

"Okay, so I know you're not dating yet, but how did you two meet?" Yuri asked. "When you were filming Dark Moon?"

Kyoko and Ren both looked away, ashamed of themselves for different reasons.

"What?" Kana asked. "Why do you both look embarrassed? Did he walk into your dressing room or something?"

"No, of course not!" Kyoko squeaked. "It was just - I was dumb. Very dumb. About why I wanted to join LME. And he kind of. Um. Helped throw me out of the building."

"He WHAT?"

"It was completely justified!" Kyoko stood up, waving her hands. Her face was bright red. "I would throw me out too, now that I love acting! I just - it was really, really stupid. I'm going to, um, go check on dessert." She scurried away to stare at the already-baked-and-frosted cake.

"You threw her out of the building?" Kana asked, incredulous.

Kuon did not know how to respond. "Technically?"

"Technically? What does that even mean?"

"Look, she hated me even before we met-"

"And that meant it was okay to throw her out?"

"She was acting like a crazy fan of someone who didn't even work there. We didn't know each other. What was I supposed to do?" Kyoko, come back! He glanced desperately at the kitchen.

Kyoko, in the kitchen, was staring very determinedly at the cake, trying to come up with a reason that she came out to check on it. She was also willing her cheeks to return to their normal color. "Okay, cake is… fine. The cake is fine. It's… the frosting has set. That's what it was. Okay, good. Um." She glanced out towards the table and caught Ren's pleading expression. Damn those puppy-dog eyes.

When Kyoko returned, Yuri was still grilling Ren about what could possibly make it justified. He did not want to embarrass her by telling the truth, but also did not know what else to tell them. Kyoko sat back down. "The frosting set!" she piped, hoping to change the subject.

"Kyoko-chan, what excuse could this brute possibly have for throwing you out of a building?" Kana asked, reaching across the table to grab the teen's hand.

"I, um." Her face went even redder. "I made it kind of clear that I only wanted to get into LME and be famous to get revenge on - technically an ex-friend? It was really, really stupid and I didn't have any respect for the industry or the artforms at all and if it happened today with someone else I would do the exact same thing so please don't be mad at him," she said all in one breath.

"Oh, sweetie. A bad sort-of-breakup?" Kana guessed, stroking Kyoko's hand with her thumb. Kuon pouted internally.

"Maybe?" she winced. Why are we talking about Sho? "It was a while ago, though, and I got into acting, so it all turned out for the best. And um, obviously Tsuruga-san and I don't hate each other now. So, yeah." She blushed deeper. Understatement of the year, Kyoko! "Is anyone ready for dessert?"

"Ooh, I shouldn't, but yes!" Yuri said, nudging Kana. Kana took her hand back. "What are we having?"

"A chocolate sponge cake! The frosting's not too sweet, and it's nice and light." She smiled. "Let me clear these dishes away and then we can eat."

Ren stopped her. "Let me. You cooked, it's the least I can do."

"But -"

"He's right, you cooked." Kana smiled at her. "So he does dishes. It's only fair."

"But -"

"No buts!" Yuri said, handing Kuon her plate. "That's how Kana and I split stuff. Actually, it's how everyone splits stuff."

Kyoko bit back that no, it wasn't. That no, they hadn't. Because that was in the past, and was not a good example of anything, much less of how to split the chores. "Oh...kay."

Kuon said thank you with his eyes to Yuri and Kana as he took their plates, and had to resist dropping a kiss on Kyoko's head when he grabbed hers. It was not worth the freak-out, especially since they had guests. And, he reminded himself, since they were not dating yet.

The clink of dishes and the rush of the water mostly drowned out the chatter from the living room. He found himself wishing that everyone but Kyoko would leave. But no, that was rude. This was an intentional, planned thing! He had wanted this to happen, so they could fully clear the air about Kana, and so Kyoko could maybe find some mentors other than him. It was just supposed to be that. It was not a double-date, even if it really felt like one. Even if he wished it could be one.

Even if he felt like he was third-wheeling his own not-a-double-date.

He sighed into the soap bubbles, making them scatter and pop. I shouldn't be this jealous. He was sure that Kana and Yuri weren't doing it on purpose; they were just touchy-feely people. Like Kyoko was with Kotonami-san. And just like with Kotonami-san, Kyoko was in awe of them. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at them in a way he could only dream they would when she looked at him.

He squeezed the sponge, trying to remind himself that Kyoko had feelings for him. She had nodded in the elevator; they had talked it out in his dressing room. She had his necklace; she had given him her Corn stone, for crying out loud! She was his as much as he was hers, even if they could not really be together yet. So he needed to get over this jealousy. There was no reason to be jealous.

...Except for the way Kyoko's cheeks had flushed so prettily when Kana had kissed her hand.

He would have doubtless continued in this line of thinking had Kyoko not hurried into the room, cheeks pink. "Hi!"

"Hi," he replied, smiling softly. "Everything okay?"

"Yes!" She beamed at him, and he felt his heart skip a beat. "Yuri-san and Kana-san said that we should have a girls' night sometime, and that I should bring Moko!"

"That's great," he said, and meant it. He knew too well how much of normal friendship she had missed out on over the years. He unplugged the drain and dried his hands. "Did you come to get me for dessert?" Internally, he winced. He could have phrased that better.

Fortunately, Kyoko did not seem to notice. "I did! I think you should like it, since I didn't make it too sweet. But I'll give you a small slice anyway."

"Thank you," he said, thinking, I love you.

The rest of the evening went smoothly for them. Kana ribbed Ren every chance she got, but that was nothing new. If anything, it felt almost like family. Kyoko shared some jokes she had heard from a co-worker, sending them all into gales of laughter. The girls exchanged numbers with the promise to spend time together when their schedules allowed. Then finally, they were saying goodbye to Kana and Yuri, leaving them alone together in the apartment. They cleaned up together. Kyoko insisted on washing the dessert dishes, so Kuon dried them, thinking that he did not want the evening to end. But it did, and he eventually had to take her home.

Just before she got out of the car, he caught her hand for a moment, and pressed a kiss to the back of it. Kyoko rewarded him with a shy smile before she bid him goodnight and disappeared into the Daruma-ya.

(Over time, they would have more not-a-date-double dates. Some were him going shopping with his supposed girlfriend and her friends, playing the gentleman and paying the tab. These trips were mostly excuses to spoil Kyoko, who could not figure out a way to refuse all three of them - and when she did, one of them would just sneakily get it for her anyway. This did not change even after she and Kuon started dating for real)

I hope you enjoyed that!