For a few moments after Kijima had left, Kyoko had just stared around the apartment. It was quiet and silent, and seemed even barer than before. It hadn't been really lived in from the beginning, and it felt emptier now than when they'd moved in.

And now she was just in it alone.

She swallowed heavily and felt the tears coming on again, and she almost wanted to run out and call out to Kijima again, if only because his presence and his cheer had kept her from this spiral down and somehow he'd gotten her to be better than normal even.

In the silence of this empty apartment, she felt like she was all by herself and had nothing and no one to care if she was gone. Who would? Her mother had all but abandoned her, Shoutaro had just done no better, and his parents back in Kyoto were his parents. She had no father. She never had any friends either, except Shoutaro (or she had thought so). If she was honest, she didn't have anyone.

Who would care if she just leapt off the balcony here?

She felt the tears pouring now and she couldn't stop them. She glanced at the balcony and wavered. Her feet began to move on their own and she had been midway to it, when there was a knock on her door.

She blinked and then rapidly wiped at her face, trying to remove the tears. But they wouldn't stop and she had to take longer than usual to compose herself, so that she wouldn't look like a mess when she answered the door. When she was satisfied, she trudged towards the door and opened it, seeing her neighbor who had always seemed to come at the wrong times (and yet they seemed to be the right times as well, because he always seemed to come there for her and when she needed it).

Kuresaki Yuki had been the only neighbor she'd really interacted with the entire time she'd lived in that apartment complex, and in some ways he'd (despite seemingly distanced and stern) been kind and even worried about her, if she could interpret him correctly.

So seeing him there at her door, mouth opened as if he was prepared to say something and looking as serious as he always did...it seemed right and normal. Just like all the other times when Shoutaro had left her behind and upset. Only this time was much more permanent.

Kuresaki closed his mouth and smiled politely at her.

"I was wondering if you'd like to have tea, Mogami-san."

She couldn't help her reaction, bursting into a hysterical combination of a sob and laugh, sinking to her knees. She felt so much hate in her and she tried to cling to it, but she felt muddled and confused and lost.

She had to cling to it, had to hold onto her hate. If she didn't she'd fall apart; she'd just wither away –

She felt hands on her arms and she was being gently pulled up, before being crushed to a man's chest. While she was pushed into her apartment and the door closed, she was held in a warm embrace and a hand rubbed her head in comfort.

Kyoko wanted to apologize for crying on him, for bursting into emotion so suddenly, but she couldn't stop. Moreover, she wanted to keep being comforted like this, to have someone care for her, even if it was just for now.

In the morning, she'd apologize and pull herself together and cling onto her anger and hate, or at least try to figure out something so that she didn't stay drowning.

All she had before was Shoutaro. Now she had to figure out what to do and where to go from there now that she didn't even have him anymore.

~*~*~

Yuki wasn't sure what had happened, but he could guess that it had something to do with that Shoutaro. He could guess it was yet another event of the young man irresponsibly and carelessly treating this young girl with disregard.

However, judging by her reaction, he worriedly thought that this time it was much worse and that something had even become irreparable and become passed the point of no return.

Having her pass out in his arms was worrisome, and he ended up picking her up so she and he were both more comfortable. He looked around and there was something terribly lonely about the apartment, more so right now for some reason.

Yuki wasn't sure where to put her. There was no couch in the living room, and it was becoming clear that he'd have to carry her and put her in her bed. On one hand, it was the only option and the logical one. On the other hand, he felt like he was intruding and would be encroaching on her privacy by entering her room.

Eventually, logic won over appropriateness and he carried her to her room. It was just as sparsely furnished as everywhere else, with just a simple tatami mat laid out and a blanket folded neatly at the foot of it. Without another thought, he placed her gently onto her bed, and then took her blanket and secured it over her.

Afterwards, he'd gone back out and sat down at her kitchen table to think. He couldn't just leave her there. For one, if he just walked out, her door would be left unlocked since he couldn't lock it from the outside and she wasn't awake to do it herself. But this also wasn't his home and he wasn't sure he would be welcome to just stay there the night. It was definitely not appropriate.

But would he really just leave her there to be left alone after what had probably been a horrible night, and vulnerable and unsafe alone in that apartment?

He'd tried to stay away and mind his business, but he'd already gone passed that, especially tonight.

What was staying the night and keeping a silent vigil in an apartment not his own?

~*~*~

Hidehito had woken up bright and early that morning, glad that he had the morning off and wouldn't have work until after noon that day. To that end, he gathered some stuff and headed over to that girl's apartment complex. He'd promised to help her and by God he was going to do it.

He hated how upset and despaired she'd been, and he was determined to turn things around for her. She deserved much better, in his opinion. And he'd always been a sucker for women in trouble, though there was something about Kyoko that made this more special and important somehow.

That's why he found himself in front of her apartment and knocking cheerfully. He waited a moment and then the door was opened. To his surprise, someone other than Kyoko answered the door, and a male at that. However, once he recognized who it was, his surprise was even more pronounced.

"K-Kuresaki-san! I didn't expect to see you. I must be at the wrong apartment..." He made to move away (not wanting to upset and bother the infamous producer) and see about observing the hallway and remember which exact one he'd gone to last night, though he'd been so sure this one had been it. He must've been mistaken though.

"Were you here to see Mogami-san?" Kuresaki asked indifferently.

Hidehito blinked. "Ah! Yes, I am. Do you know Kyoko-chan then?"

Kuresaki nodded before hesitating, glancing into the inside of the apartment.

"She's sleeping," Kuresaki revealed before stepping back so he could enter. "She had a hard night."

Hidehito blinked, before he nodded in understanding and walked into the apartment. "That's true. I dropped her off last night and she seemed alright, but I could tell she was still struggling."

Kuresaki furrowed his eyebrows. "So you know what happened?" he asked, closing the door behind Hidehito.

Hidehito was the one hesitating this time, which Kuresaki noted.

"Does it have something to do with Shoutaro?"

Which made Hidehito go off, because even if he didn't know the other and had no personal offense, knowing what Fuwa'd done and said to the sweet girl Hidehito'd just met made his blood boil angrily. So he couldn't help blurting out angrily what he'd learned, trying to keep his voice low even through his agitation. By the end of it, he could also see a quiet fury in the other.

"I see," Kuresaki murmured. "That is...unfortunate." But he sounded satisfied the blond singer was gone for good. And then he even said it aloud. "But he is gone, so no matter."

It made Hidehito feel a little amused. "Ah, so she's still sleeping. Maybe we should get breakfast going? I'm...fair with eggs."

Kuresaki minutely twitched. "I'm capable with toast."

Well, they were single men (well, he assumed Kuresaki was) and they weren't used to cooking for themselves, much less for others. Still, they ended up with scrambled and fried eggs, with toasted bread and toasted and buttered bread ready, and by the time they were done, Kyoko was walking sleepily into the kitchen. She stared in surprise.

"K-Kijima-san, Kuresaki-san! What are you two doing here?" And then, she hurriedly bowed. "Good morning! Welcome to my apartment."

Both men were amused, but they managed to keep it hidden.

"I told you I was going to help," Hidehito told her. "So I came here and will help you get started and get to organizing and figuring things out."

"I came to see you last night," Kuresaki started after him. "You were very upset and so overwhelmed that you passed out in my arms. I brought you to your bed and stayed the night, so as to keep watch over you and see to you being alright and if you needed anything, as well as not being able to lock your apartment on my own."

"Thank you both," she said, startled at their thoughtfulness.

"So I'd never had to leave my apartment, but I looked it up a little, and apparently it depends on some things. Do you own your apartment or just under a lease?" Kijima got right into it.

"I'm renting it," Kyoko blushed.

"You'll have to talk to the landlord. It's best to let him know as soon as possible, and find out what your lease agreement entailed," Kuresaki interjected, guessing that she seemed to want to leave the apartment.

"He's right," Hidehito said in agreement. "Depending on what your lease agreement was, it might show your options and tell you what you'll have to do and what's easier."

"O-okay," Kyoko looked like she was trying her best to keep up and focus.

"Honesty is the best policy, so I think you should be upfront and tell everything to the landlord," Hidehito continued. "Sometimes landlords can be sympathetic to your reasons."

"I understand," Kyoko said in determination. "Aside from my apartment, how will I get my revenge on Shoutaro?"

While Kuresaki wasn't sure what she meant, Hidehito coughed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ah well, I know you want to break into show business and humiliate him, but what exactly did you have in mind? Like did you have any plans?"

Kyoko straightened up. "I was going to sell my things, find a cheaper place to live, and then use some of the money I got to change the way I look."

"You're pretty the way you are." "You look fine the way you are."

He and Kuresaki looked at each other, having basically said the same thing at the same time. But it was true.

"But I don't want to be the 'plain, boring girl with no sex appeal,'" she said upset.

Hidehito bristled, though he could see that Kuresaki briefly looked furious. Ah, that's right –the other man didn't know the exact kind of things Fuwa had said to her.

"You're not plain," Hidehito declared. "Like I said last night, you are totally the Japanese 'girl next door.' And boring? Please. Fuwa obviously hasn't been around you if he thinks you're boring. I've only just met you last night and I know you are far from boring."

"He's right," Kuresaki said. "You are quite the...lively girl. You can say you're quite vibrant."

"And sex appeal?" Hidehito continued. "Totally fixable and easily changed. I'm going to help you get so much sex appeal, that asshole will eat his words. Besides, I don't think it's about looks as much as attitude. Which is still easy to apply."

"You can easily dress yourself up with the right clothing and a little makeup," Kuresaki commented blithely. "There's no need for you to go to extreme lengths."

"What were you going to do? Style your hair? That could be easily done on your own if you were taught. And Kuresaki-san's right, a little makeup and a change of clothing could help you do what you want without changing yourself completely," Hidehito added.

Kyoko, though, suddenly went into depressed mode and there could be a visible dark cloud over her.

"I don't have any makeup. I want to buy some, but I never spend anything on myself. I always bought things for Shoutaro and to pay rent," she mumbled. "And I only have my clothing I brought from Kyoto."

Hidehito sweatdropped while Kuresaki seemed bemused at her reaction, though he (and he was sure the other) was a bit irritated at yet another show of how that ungrateful brat had taken advantage of her.

"I was thinking of maybe cutting my hair short and dyeing it some other color," she sighed. "And buying a new outfit."

"Why don't we start by prioritizing and then budgeting?" Kuresaki suggested, somehow pulling out a small notebook and pen, and Hidehito couldn't find himself surprised. The man was known to be efficient. "Find out about your apartment and see what the best options for you are. I'm not sure if you should sell all your things, seeing as you have very little in the first place. Maybe a few things? After we figure out how much money you have, then we can think of what's feasible to buy. Makeup might probably be a necessity –you need to accentuate your features to stand out in a crowd, but also to show how photogenic you are. On camera, makeup is usually needed as the camera and the lights will affect how you look and the makeup will balance that out."

Hidehito amusedly let the other go on. It was probably better. Kuresaki was actually one of those who actually went behind the scenes and knew all the ins and outs of production and actually chose who and what goes into a movie or project. He'd definitely know more of the know-hows of how it all actually worked and who would be picked based on what.

"At least one new outfit –you wear very modest clothing, but how they look and how they look on you definitely looks like a regular civilian," Kuresaki thought about it. "It would be good to have more than one, but we do definitely need to know how much you'll have."

"Once you find something with higher pay, then we can talk more about all that," Hidehito added. "So let's talk jobs. If you want to break into showbiz and put that guy in his place, think about which area of showbiz do you want to go into?"

Both he and Kuresaki looked at her expectantly and she sort of just stared back at them.

"...Um, I don't know?"

Hidehito twitched and stopped himself from laughing. Honestly, this girl...Ah, but this sudden interest of hers was rather abrupt and motivated by revenge.

"Do you want to act, sing, model? There are definitely many different areas for you to go into," Kuresaki asked, surprisingly staying on pace and not getting lost, even though Hidehito hadn't exactly explained about the whole showbiz revenge plot to him when he'd talked about what had happened between Fuwa and Kyoko.

"I'm not pretty enough to be a model," Kyoko said immediately and Hidehito frowned. He opened his mouth to rebuke her, but he saw Kuresaki shake his head. The other was probably right. Someone like Kyoko needed to be shown and helped over time with these kind of self-esteem issues. "I'd rather listen to music than sing, and I can't sing anyway."

He wasn't sure about that. It just felt like Kyoko was used to being so modest and putting herself down that it was hard to take what she said seriously.

"I don't care about acting," Kyoko shrugged.

This time, Hidehito really did face palm.

"I go to work in a few hours," Kuresaki revealed. "Usually I'm there first thing, however this has taken precedent." He held up a hand, already stopping Kyoko's apology. "Which I deemed and am fine with. As I go to work, you can accompany me and see what you'd like to do. Maybe you'll find you'd like to act after all, or do something else."

"Good idea," Hidehito grinned. "Tomorrow, I've got to film a few scenes and then a modeling gig, so you can come with me tomorrow and check that out! In the meantime, after we've settled your priority affairs, we can work on your resumé and then start job hunting."

"Ah, okay," she nodded eagerly. "I still have to work tonight at Darumaya, so is it alright if I leave you early, Kuresaki-san? I don't want to force you to leave your work on account of me."

Kuresaki waved her off. "It's fine. The movie is almost over, so I can leave early with you and probably eat dinner at your restaurant."

Kyoko's lip trembled as she watched them strangely. Then she bowed lowly.

"Thank you two so much."

~*~*~

Honestly, she didn't know why the two of them were so willing to help her. Kuresaki had been unquestioningly, if unexpected, been an unknowing rock to her this past year. For every time that Shoutaro seemed to have disappointed her or left her behind, she'd find him there and politely spending time with her for whatever reason. And then there was Kijima, who she just met and was more than willing to help shoulder her burdens and pain, and befriend her so quickly.

She had cracks all over and thought she wouldn't be able to stay together, not with falling apart.

But she had found her glue in these two men, and she could at least messily keep herself glued together until hopefully she healed enough that she wouldn't be so brittle.

For the moment though, she could just be glad that Kuresaki and Kijima had entered her life and kept her from breaking completely and losing her way.