A Second Glance- Chapter Three

                                    Girls Just Wanna Have Ice Cream       

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"Welcome to the town of Canosa! A small seaside town where the best ocean resort in all of Japan lives!" The president announced flamboyantly.

Kyoko bounced on her limo seat as she looked out the window at the quaint little city. They drove to a beachside resort that rented out villa out to rich people. They arrived and Lory went up to the desk to confirm their reservations. Kyoko watched as Lory stood straighter after hearing whatever they said.

Finally he returned with a sigh.

"There was a mix up and our fourth villa's reservations was dropped. The only cabin that has a extra room is the Ishibashi boys cabin so girls your going to have to stay there."

Yuusei and Shinichi cheered and slung their arms around Kyoko and Kanae with a grin.

"Party time!"

Kanae rolled her eyes and Kyoko laughed at them. They were all given keys to their cabins and sent to go settle in for the next three days.

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The beach cabin was spacious and fit them without a problem. There were three bedrooms in total, Kyoko and Kanae shared one, Yuusei and Shinichi shared the second one and Hikaru got the smallest one to himself.

Once everyone was settled in Kanae dropped to sit down next to her.

"Hey, the boys are planning to be lazy butts so I was wondering if you wanted to go get ice cream with me."

Kyoko's eyes went sparkly.

"I WOULD LOVE TOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"

The boys all looked over, startled by the exasperated exclamation of "Mo!". However, upon seeing Kyoko clinging to her dark haired friend the three of them simply laughed and went back to their conversation. They were all more then used to Kyoko's over exuberant nature and the reaction of those around her.

Once Kanae had peeled Kyoko off the two girls headed out to the massive pools the resort had where they sold what was advertised ad "the best soft ice cream in Japan".

"Kanae-San? Kyoko-chan?"

Both girls turned to look at who was calling them only to see Yashiro walking over.

"You guys wanted to try their supposed best soft ice cream to?" He asked with a smile when he reached them.

Kyoko nodded eagerly.

"Yes!! It's going to be amazing!"

Yashiro nodded in agreement and then looked at Kanae.

"Do you girls want to join me and Ren over at that table in the corner?"

Kyoko looked over to see her Sempi sitting at a shade covered table in the corner of the patio reading.

"Tsuruga-San!" She called, abandoning her friends to go see what her esteemed Sempi was doing.

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Kanae sighed as she watched Kyoko hurry over to where the dark haired actor had looked up with a warm smile upon hearing Kyoko's voice. He had pulled out the chair next to him in a clear invitation for her to talk a seat.

"If he hurts her....." Kanae muttered to herself as Kyoko was seen pointing at the book in a clear question.

"Pardon?"

Kanae jerked her head to look at Yashiro and instantly regretted it as she tried to fight down the blush.

"N-nothing. Let's go get the ice cream."

"Alright." Yashiro agreed with a smile as they headed over to join the back of the line.

As they walked Kanae glanced at Yashiro out of the corner of her eye. She had talked with the manager plenty of times since Kyoko talked with Ren plenty of times which meant that so did Kanae.

However usually the manager was dressed in dull suits which still looked somewhat attractive but were easy to look over which was something Kanae had been taking advantage for a very long time.

But now.....

The brown haired manager was currently dressed in fitted jeans and a button down shirt that had been left undone to reveal a surprisingly toned chest, and with his hands lazily hanging out of his pockets...

To put it plain he looked hot.

Kanae restrained the urge to hit her head repeatedly against something hard. She was not a giggly, air brained girl who drooled over every male she saw!! This was ridiculous!!

"Kanae-San. Is there something on my face?"

Kanae started before turning to face him head on.

"What?"

"Well you've been studying me for several minutes now and I was wondering if there was something on my face."

As Kanae sputtered she missed the slight smile on Yashiro's face and the glint of affection and amusement in his eyes.

"No! I was just thinking that you look different when not wearing a suit."

Yashiro's lips twitched.

"So you were admiring my looks?" He asked in a innocent sounding tone.

"NO!!!!!"

Yashiro burst into laughter and as a now bright red Kanae sputtered he gently steered her up to the counter.

"Four soft ice creams please."

The server nodded before giving Kanae who was bright red and sulking a odd look.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Yashiro grinned as he watched her glare pointedly at the counter.

This week could be interesting.

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Kyoko sat next to Ren listening intently as he explained the roll he was doing research for. Hearing a shriek from behind her however pulled her attention away from Ren and she turned in her chair to see Kanae, bright red in the face and Yashiro who had a impish grin on his face.

"Kanae has met her maaaatch~" Kyoko singsonged.

"What?"

Kyoko turned back to Ren with a smile on her face.

"Moko-san has a massive crush on Yashiro-San even if she won't admit it. And from the way Yashiro-San watches her I'd say he reciprocates his feelings. It's just funny how Moko-San is super cold and detached from people and so she has no idea how to react when she develops feelings for someone."

Ren watched Yashiro and Kanae with a slight smirk.

"That's rather amusing."

Kyoko nodded and watched the two of them walk over with ice cream cones. Kanae handed Kyoko her come before sitting down in the chair across from her. Yashiro settling down next to her.

"So how have you girls been enjoying the cruise so far?" Ren asked.

"It's been a welcome break. And being around the Ishibashi boys is really fun. They make me think of my cousins." Kanae said around a mouthful of ice cream.

"It's really fun!! I get to room with Moko-San which is really fun because it's like a sleepover and hanging around with the Ishibashi boys is awesome. I'm really glad we ended up in their cabin."

Ren's smile became gentlemanly and sparkly and Kyoko shrank in her seat.

"Um.....how are you guys enjoying it so far?"

Yashiro let out a slightly irritated sigh towards Ren that was noticed by Kanae before he answered Kyoko's question in hoped of distracting the girl from Ren's aura.

"We're having a great time Kyoko-chan. It's very rare that we get a break like this and to be able to completely relax like this is wonderful. Did you get a chance to try the slide on the ship?"

Kyoko was successfully distracted by Yashiro's question. Kanae however nearly choked on her ice cream and jabbed a elbow into Yashiro's side. But it was to late.

"It was scary!! I wanted to go on the slide with Kanae but she wouldn't go so I ended up going with Hikaru Ishibashi. The whole slide is made of glass which allows you to look out over the ocean which might have been cool if the tube hadn't been going so fast because of our combined weights. I screamed almost the whole way down and once we finally got to the bottom pool Hikaru-Kun wouldn't stop laughing at me."

Upon hearing Hikaru's name Yashiro stiffened. Ren's scary aura had only gotten worse.

"Mogami-San. How do you know the Ishibashi boys so well?"

Kyoko was silent for a moment before responding.

"I work backstage as a LoveMe assignment. I really love working with the Bridge Rock people and the Ishibashi's are really fun to hang around. It was my first LoveMe job and even when I was given the chance to stop doing the job I turned it down."

Ren's scary smile had yet to leave and he turned all of his attention to Kyoko.

"Do you spend a lot of time outside of the show with them?"

"Just before they go on stage. Oh and I went out for pizza a couple times with them! Why?"

Ren shifted before seeming to land on a reason.

"Because I noticed how friendly you seemed with Hikaru and I don't want you to do a repeat of what happened with Kijima."

Kyoko's jaw dropped at his words and without even thinking about being polite she responded.

"It's not even close to a repeat of that incident!! Hikaru-kun, Shinichi-kun and Yuusei-kun have looked out for me from the moment I started working with them! They've always been kind and when Sho found me and came storming into the Bridge Rock building I couldn't find anyone to help me but Hikaru-Kun knew something was wrong and made Sho go away without even knowing why I didn't want to be around him. Hikaru-Kun is nothing like Kijima-San!!"

Ren, Kanae and Yashiro were all staring open mouthed at Kyoko who went bright red and stood abruptly, her chair screeching on the patio as she bowed to Ren.

"I'm sorry! I know I am a very rude kohai but I don't want you to think bad of Hikaru-kun, Shinichi-kun and Yuusei-kun." Kyoko said softly before turning to Kanae.

"I think I'm going to go back to the villa. I'll see you there."

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Ren watched Kyoko go with a tight feeling in his chest.

"Tsuruga."

Ren turned back to Kanae in surprise at the ice in her voice. Upon meeting her narrowed eyed gaze Ren froze.

"She in finally allowing herself to connect to people outside of just us three. Her heart is finally healing from what Sho Fuwa and her mom did to her. You screw up and you'll find yourself six feet under. Understand?"

She never gave Ren a chance to respond before standing to her feet and walking away.

"See you around glasses." She called over her shoulder casually.

Ren stared after her for a moment before turning to look at his manager.

"You need to make up your mind Ren."

"What?"

Yashiro sighed.

"You can't get angry when Kyoko hangs around guys and try to push her away from them while not making any moves of your own. As much as I want to see you together  you can't wait forever and expect her to not go for other guys."

Ren opened his mouth to argue and Yashiro cut him off.

"Ren she's eighteen now! If you aren't going to make a move of your own you shouldn't be holding her back. It's wrong!"

Ren slumped forward with a sigh.

"I just need a little bit longer. I don't want to rush her."

Yashiro growled under his breath.

"Fine! But don't say I never warned you when another male in her life who has also shown her kindness and understanding and has one up on you by not being restricted to Sempi status sweeps her out from under you!"

Yashiro sighed when Ren didn't respond and left the table leaving the dark haired actor alone.

Ren glared at his hands on the table in front of him. Someone steal Kyoko from him?

Never.