Hello lovelies! I told you I'd be back soon ^^ (actually I was planning on having this done before yesterday, but complications complications. whatevs)

To all you wonderful people who already read the previous version, here ya go! some new material to read (well half new. some of it is still the same, but you'll see what I mean later). and to all you new people who hadn't read the previous version, well that's one less thing you have to worry about! haha yeah i'm gonna shut up now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat or 'some nights' by Fun. If i had Skip Beat Kyoko and Ren would be married, and if I wrote and sang 'some nights' it would be absolutely terrible and sung by a tone deaf high school girl.

enjoy reading chapter 10!

-Momo

Mori found himself waving at Shin and Arisa, watching as they left through the airport terminal. He, along with Kyoko, continued waving at the two until they were out of sight. Mori looked at the young girl standing beside him, watching her face twist up in concern. He smiled softly, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Kyoko jumped at the gentle touch, looking up at Mori. He bent down to her eye level, smiling. "Hey now, don't you worry about a thing. Arisa-san went with Shin to make sure he didn't do anything rash. I have his brother's phone number, I can call him later and see if Shin made it there safely. Come on, we have to get back to the inn."

Kyoko nodded, letting a small smile come out for a brief moment. The two headed back to Mori's car, heading back in silence. Kyoko thought back to what happened the night before that had led to this parting in the first place. I don't even know why he had to leave.

-Last night-

Kyoko walked around the park, looking at the beautiful view. I've never been to this part of town, she thought, amazed at the thought that she would watch Arisa work in this place. She squealed in delight, going back into her little fantasies. Arisa-san would be the queen wearing the sparkly blue dress like Cinderella, and then the fairy godmother would come and sprinkle her fairy magic all over us and then I would be a fairy princess just like Arisa-san!

Floating in her own little world, Kyoko didn't even notice when Arisa started walking with her. Smiling at the young girl, Arisa put her hand on Kyoko's shoulder, breaking her out of her trance.

"Kyoko-chan, come meet the director with me." Kyoko jumped a little, looking at Arisa with a huge smile.

"Really?! Can I meet him?"

"Her actually," They both turned to see a petite woman walking towards them with a smile. She had brown hair with blonde highlights, tied in a messy bun. She wasn't particularly tall, 5'4" at most. She smiled and bowed to the two of them. "Hey Arisa, it's been a while," She started, looking at Kyoko. "Hi there! What's your name sweetie?"

Kyoko bowed, being extremely polite. "Hello, Director-san. I'm Kyoko Mogami. Nice to meet you."

The director looked at Arisa, impressed with Kyoko's manners. "I'm Yuki Shota, the director for this modeling shoot. May I ask what brings you here Kyoko-chan?"

"U-um, I'm planning on joining the entertainment industry and I wanted to see what it was like," She said quietly, still a little overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last week. I'm going to go to Tokyo. With a famous director, a famous model, and a famous producer. Oh my goodness!

The two older women looked at her, amused by the different emotions playing on her face: shyness, awe, shock, then it finally settled on joy. Arisa chuckled, used to the young girl's mood swings. Yuki suppressed a laugh of her own, leaning toward Arisa and whispering, "Is she always like this?" Arisa nodded, shoulders shaking from holding in her laughter so long. Yuki knew the girl would get offended if Arisa broke into laughter and quickly changed the subject.

"Well, if you want to see some show-biz action, you've come to the right place. Come on, I'll show you what goes on in these modeling shoots." Kyoko's face lit up as she nodded enthusiastically. Yuki looked at Arisa, completely serious. "Arisa, you are a bit early. The more time we have the better. Go to your dressing room and get ready." Arisa nodded and headed towards the trailers behind her. Kyoko looked at Yuki, curious about how they were going to do the photoshoot in the first place. "Um Shota-san, how exactly are you going to take the pictures here?"

The older woman chuckled, pointing at a few men who were bringing down the cameras. "Those guys are going to set up a bunch of cameras and lights everywhere, and then the cameraman will take the pictures using those."

"But doesn't the director take the pictures?" Kyoko was confused. If the director isn't the one taking the pictures then how will they know if it came out right the first time?

"Good question, Kyoko-chan. why don't you come and see for yourself?" She started walking towards the shooting grounds where only authorized people could enter, Kyoko following her footsteps. She watched Yuki give orders to some of the crew members, surprised at the amount of work it took to take a few pictures. I can take pictures too, and it wouldn't be this tiring, she thought, wondering how much money they had spent on that equipment. Shaking her head, she decided it was best if she just stayed away from the cameras. I don't want to end up messing with them and then drowning in debt, forced to live the rest of my life as a slave to these people. She shuddered at the thought, already making up an entire story of what would happen if she stepped within 10 feet of those cameras.

Cursing her bad luck, Kyoko saw that the director sat right next to the cameras. Pulling on Yuki's sleeve a little, she pointed to the giant screen in front of her. "Shota-san, why is there a giant tv next to your seat?"

Yuki smiled mischievously. "You'll see. Patience is a virtue, my young grasshopper," she said in an i'm-trying-to-sound-like-a-karate-master voice. Kyoko laughed, sitting in the small chair next to Yuki. Arisa had come out, dressed in a v-neck yellow sundress matching Kyoko's. She wore a white sweater on top, along with a white hat and black pumps. Her hair had been put up in a bun, her make-up flawless. Yuki smiled. "Perfect, now we can get started."

Starting with the photo shoot, Kyoko finally saw what exactly a director did. She looked at how Arisa modeled, how much fun she was having. she loves her job, Kyoko realized. She doesn't care if she's working into the dead of the night, she's enjoying every minute of it. Kyoko continued to watch Arisa model, occasionally looking at how Yuki played her role as well.

"Shota-san, does the director make sure the pictures turn out okay?"

Yuki smiled widely. "You got it kiddo! well, that's what I do, I can't say the same for movie directors and whatnot."

Kyoko frowned. "Why not?"

"Because, not every director is a modeling director. Movie directors watch the actors play out their roles and then decide if it's what they had imagined that specific scene to be like."

Kyoko nodded, listening so intently Yuki was sure if the girl had paper and a pen she would be taking notes. This girl is something else, she thought, smiling inwardly. Though that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

Arisa came up to the two of them, drinking some of the water she had in her hands. "Kyoko-chan, you wanna take some pictures with me for fun? They don't even have to get published, we'll just keep them as memories."

Kyoko's face lit up at first, but then a sudden thought dawned upon her. No, I don't want to be a bother to Shota-san. It's better if I say no."Um, I'm not sure if that's a good idea," she started, looking away from Arisa. Yuki noticed how the young girl really wanted to, but was hiding her emotions. She's much more mature than I expected. "Kyoko-chan it's fine if you want to take a few pictures. To make things more fun I'll have you treated like a professional model."

Kyoko jumped in the air with joy, suddenly stopping in mid-air and bowing to Yuki. "Thank you very much Shota-san. I promise this won't be a waste of your time." and then went back to her joy. Yuki just stood there for a second, trying to come up with a plausible answer to what just happened. She-she stopped herself in mid-air. What the heck is this girl?! Shaking her head, she looked at Arisa who was chatting away with Kyoko. She suddenly had an idea.

"Okay you two, you are going to do a natural shoot. Act like you always do, have a good time. We're just going to take the pictures like that."

The two nodded, getting into the zone. Arisa noticed Kyoko's stiffness and smiled. I know just the thing to loosen her up.

Kyoko saw Arisa smile mischievously, wondering what was going through the older woman's head. Arisa bent down and whispered in Kyoko's ear. "I scared Shin once and he yelled 'mommy' at the top of his lungs in front of his wife." Kyoko burst into laughter, Arisa joining her. Yuki smiled widely. This is gonna be good.

They continued having the time of their lives, almost unaware of the pictures being taken of them. For a few pictures they posed a little, back-to-back with their shades trying to look cool. After they took about 10 or so shots of the two, Yuki called the two of them over to where she was. She was grinning like she had just won the lottery. "Okay, these pictures came out fantastic! Kyoko-chan, you are extremely photogenic. If you ever decide to become a model just call me." Kyoko blushed at the compliment.

"I couldn't have possibly done this without you or Arisa-san. Thank you for the offer, Shota-san." She bowed, extremely happy that she had the opportunity to actually take part in a modeling shoot.

"Have the pictures developed yet?" Arisa asked, itching to see how they went.

"Your personal ones should be done in a half-hour. I will mail you the others sometime this week. You don't have anything else for me today, so if you want to wait for the pictures to develop you can sit in the lounge. If you have something else to do then I can just mail it to you next time."

"No, that's fine. I've got nothing else to do and waiting wouldn't be too bad. Come, Kyoko-chan, we can discuss our strategies against that old man in the lounge." Kyoko nodded enthusiastically, following Arisa happily. Yuki sweat-dropped. What will the entertainment industry do with those two?

Kyoko and Arisa sat together in the lounge, talking about all the different ways they could bother Shin. Well, Arisa was talking about all the ways she could bother Shin while Kyoko just disapproved of them.

"We could put itching powder in all of his clothes," Arisa suggested.

"Nah," Kyoko said, "Bit harsh don't you think?"

They sighed, unable to reach an agreement where both were happy. "Ne, Kyoko-chan, do you want to get revenge on that boy?"

Kyoko frowned. "Arisa-san, I'm not sure what I want. It did make me happy to see him nearly piss his pants when you and Shin attacked him, but at the same time it's just so painful for me to see his face. I just feel like killing him would get rid of my worries! But then the rational part of me says that killing him would make me a wanted criminal, and I don't want to go to jail." Arisa was shocked at Kyoko's answer. She must really despise him a lot if she had to sit down and consider the pros and cons of murder, she thought.

" Are you sure you're okay with leaving Kyoto without getting back at him? We will be leaving soon, I don't want you to leave behind regrets."

"To be honest with you, I am not," she said, smiling sadly. "We leave tomorrow right? I already made up my mind. There's no turning back, I am going with you guys in order to find myself. Besides, I have an idea on what I could do to make that Sho-baka pay." Arisa could feel the many years of hatred that had piled up in the young girl's heart over the years. It's painful to see such deep emotions coursing through such a young girl. She truly has gone through too much for her age. Deciding she wanted to cheer up Kyoko, she started thinking.She must have some good memories of being here, Arisa thought, trying to figure out a way to get Kyoko's mind off of the touchy subject. Suddenly, she smirked.

"Kyo~ko-chan, come on, you can't tell me that you've lived 12 years liking only one guy. There's got to be someone else that you hold dear." judging from the sheepish look on Kyoko's face, Arisa had hit the nail on the head. "Aha! I knew there was someone that made you happy while you were here!"

Kyoko nodded meekly, smiling at the fond memories. "He was my fairy prince. He was only with me for a month, but that one month was where some of my best memories take place."

Arisa snuggled into the couch, urging Kyoko to continue. "Well, when did you meet the guy? What's his name? Where'd you meet?"

"Slow down, Arisa-san! I can't keep up." She smiled again before continuing. "I was 6 at the time and he was 10. I had run into the woods because my mother had yelled at me for getting an 87 on a test, and I needed to go somewhere where I could cry without bothering anyone. That's where I met Corn, my fairy prince. He was flying in the air, trying to cheer me up. After that day we kept meeting at that spot in the woods, until one day he told me he had to go back home. I was heartbroken, but he left me a stone in memory of our time spent together. The stone, when held up to the light, has the power of taking away all my pain, my sorrow. He was my best friend."

She finished her tale as so, leaving Arisa dying for more. This is the part where the guy comes back after many years of disappearing, finally declaring his love for the girl, she thought, referring to all those shojo mangas she sat and read in her free time. Just when she was about to share her thoughts with Kyoko, a young crew member came in, holding an envelope in his hands. "Sato-san, here are the personal shots you took with Mogami-san." He handed them to Arisa, walking out as quickly as he had walked in. Arisa quickly opened the envelope, taking a look at the pictures.

She was speechless by how amazing they had turned out. "Kyoko, come look at these!" She said excitedly, practically jumping up and down with joy. The first picture was one of them posing as cops, back-to-back with their hands made into guns. The next was the one where Arisa was whispering in Kyoko's ear while Kyoko broke into laughter. Her eyes shined with joy, her smile infectious. They continued looking through the photos until Kyoko finally found her voice. "Th-that's me?" She asked, her voice a little shaky.

Arisa put her hand on the young girl's shoulder. "Yes, that's you. The beautiful, wonderful, talented Kyoko standing next to me in those pictures is you."

Slowly Kyoko's mouth turned into a giant smile. She was absolutely ecstatic. "Look at how amazing these pictures turned out Arisa-san! Shota-san must have done some magic, they made us look beautiful!"

They continued talking enthusiastically about the photo shoot all the way back to the inn. The two stepped inside where Shin was standing, talking with Taisho. They were having a very serious conversation.

"Shin-san, Taisho-san." Arisa greeted them, smiling widely. Her smile faded when she saw the grim look on Shin's face. "What's wrong?"

He looked at Arisa, shaking his head a little. "I-I just got a call from Boss. There's an emergency with my family overseas, and I have to go to America tomorrow. My flight takes off tomorrow morning at 6, so I won't be able to stick with you guys and go to Tokyo."

He looks terrible, Arisa thought, obviously sensing the stress and anxiety in his voice. She exchanged glances with Kyoko, who was thinking the same thing. Kyoko spoke up.

"Shin-san, do you want me to come along?" she asked carefully, noting his reaction to what she said. She saw his eyes flash of relief. Bingo.

"No, Kyoko-chan I couldn't possibly ask you to do that for me. I don't want you to feel like an outsider over there, I think it's best if you just go to Tokyo with Arisa and Mori."

Kyoko looked at Mori and Arisa, both looking very conflicted. Kyoko tried to plead her message across to them, he needs someone with him, we can't leave him alone. Arisa looked at Mori, nodding at him.

"Shin, I'm going with you." Kyoko watched Mori pull out his cellphone and dial a number. He spoke, "Hey Prez? Book 2 extra seats for Shin's flight to America. I'll explain it later, can you just get the flights done please? Thank you very much." He ended the call with the president and called someone else, leaving the area for a bit. Kyoko watched Shin's dumbfound expression, listening to Arisa continue her justification.

"You look like you're in no shape to be going anywhere alone. Mori's got 2 extra tickets booked, you aren't going on your own."

Shin frowned. "No, if both of you come then who's going to take Kyoko to Tokyo? I can't take that opportunity away from her."

Arisa raised an eyebrow. "Who ever said Mori was coming along?"

Right on cue, Mori walked in the room, still talking on the phone. "Yeah, that'd be great. Prez has already payed for the ticket and everything, all you have to do is go to the airport around 4 tomorrow morning and say you're on the flight booked by Lory Takarada along with your name and passport. Mhm, yeah the plane will stop in Kyoto, pick up Shin and Arisa-san, and you will be on your way. Yep, no problem! Have a nice night Mao-san!"

He shut the phone, looking at Shin's gaping face. Haven't seen that face in a while, he thought, smirking. "Oh yeah, Mao-san is going to meet you two on the plane."

Shin's eyes narrowed. "You two aren't even listening to a single thing I've been saying!"

Mori chuckled. "Shin, with your face looking like that there's no way we would listen to you! Now, just shut up and let the two lovely ladies help you in America."

Shin looked down and sighed. Looking up again, he smiled. "Thanks guys. And sorry for all the trouble."

This time it was Kyoko's turn to laugh. "Shin-san, you're sounding more and more like me as the day goes on! Have some faith in your friends, they're doing this because they can, not because they have to."

Shin smiled widely at that. "You're right. I guess I should pack my bags then."

He gave Kyoko a hug, standing up and nodding at both Mori and Arisa before he went upstairs. After listening carefully for the door to shut, the three still sitting downstairs let out breaths they were holding in.

Mori ran a hand through his hair. "Man, he looked terrible. Arisa-san, make sure you keep an eye on him."

She nodded before looking down at Kyoko. "Hey Kyoko-chan?" making sure Kyoko heard her, Arisa continued. "I think it was very noble of you to offer going with Shin. It made me very proud to see you do that." She smiled as the younger girl blushed a little.

"I think Mori will still be going to Tokyo tomorrow, right Mori?" He nodded.

"If you don't mind, you can come and stay at my house until Shin comes back from America, Kyoko-chan. I don't mind, I have a son who would absolutely love to have someone to play with."

Kyoko looked down, smiling at the thought of having a younger kid playing with her. "If you don't mind, I'd be glad to join you."

Arisa patted the two on the back. "Well then it's settled. Kyoko-chan, you will be with Mori-san and his family until Shin and I get back from America. You might wanna start packing your bags too young lady. Are you sure you're ready to leave this place?"

Kyoko took in a deep breath, looking around the familiar room that she worked in for so many years. "Yes, I'm ready."

The three parted ways, each heading to their respective rooms and Mori going to his hotel. Kyoko packed all of her belongings in her two suitcases, somehow making everything fit in there. With all the new clothes Shin bought her, she wasn't sure if she could pack it all. Grabbing her small purse, she placed it on top of the bags, making sure her Corn stone was inside. She also had a small necklace that she found one day while hiking through the woods. It was a simple silver chain with a small four leaf clover charm, nothing fancy. Kyoko made sure she brought it with her, as proof that she did have some good times in Kyoto. She looked around her room, stunned at how empty it looked now. She wiped a tear from her cheek and took out a sheet of paper. Slowly, she wrote a note about everything that happened in the last few days, and how she was still a little sad to leave even after all the hardships she faced.

I've come to realize that change is scary. Even though I want to leave Kyoto so badly, try to make a new path for myself, I still find it hard to let go. Whoever is reading this, I want you to know that I will miss this place. It's not that I won't, it's just that I think I'd be so much happier in Tokyo than I am over here. Thank you to all the people who supported me and helped me, I will be forever grateful to you all.

Signed,

Kyoko Mogami.

-Back to present-

Mori helped Kyoko out of the car, walking into the inn with her. He had already packed everything and put it in his car, all that was left was their departure. Mori watched as Kyoko walked in and saw the Okami and Taisho waiting for her by the door. Her lip trembled a little, and she ran to where they were standing and hugged them tightly. The couple shed a few tears themselves, sad to see the little girl they thought would become their daughter in the future leaving the little town. They didn't say anything, they just stood in embrace for a while.

Finally, Kyoko pulled away and stepped back a couple steps before she bowed formally in front of the couple that watched over her the last few years. "Thank you for all you've done for me."

Okami and Taisho bowed in turn. "Thank you for being the daughter we never had, Kyoko-chan."

Kyoko raised her head and gave them a huge smile. Grabbing her two suitcases off the ground, she rolled them out and into Mori's car. Okami and Taisho followed her out, watching as she sat into the car. Mori smiled, getting into the car himself.

"Are you ready to go, Kyoko-chan?" He asked quietly, searching her face for any emotion.

She turned towards him and smiled radiantly, brushing away a stray tear. "Yes Mori-san, I'm ready to go."

He nodded and turned on the engine, listening to it hum comfortingly. Kyoko rolled down the window and waved to Okami and Taisho. They stood together at the front entrance of the inn, waving back at her. Mori looked at his watch, seeing it was now 7:30. it's a 6 hour drive, we should get going, he thought to himself. Shifting the gear into reverse, he pulled out of the parking lot slowly, letting Kyoko wave a bit longer to her old home. She's so brave. I don't know many children who could give up everything they knew in order to go this far, and none of them were as young as her.

They had gotten far enough that Kyoko could no longer see the inn anymore. She took in a shaky breath, taking her eyes away from the window. Mori watched her from the corner of his eyes, noting her shift.

"How you holding up Kyoko-chan?"

She looked up at him and gave a weak smile. "It hurts." Mori looked at her, noting the tears welling in her eyes. He waited for her to continue before speaking. Kyoko closed her eyes, letting tears flow down her face. "But, I know that staying here would hurt more. I-I think I'll be okay."

Mori patted her on the head, oblivious to how comforting it was to young Kyoko. "It's gonna be alright. I know moving on can be tough, but it always turns out to be what was best for everyone. Here, let's turn on the radio to get your mind off of things. This is gonna be a very long drive, please make yourself comfortable."

He turned on the radio, maneuvering to a random station. There was a nice tune to the song, he kept it on the station

Some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck

Some nights I call it a draw

Some nights I wish that my lips could build a castle

Some nights I wish they'd just fall off

But I still wake up, I still see your ghost

Oh Lord I'm still not sure what I stand for oooh

What do I stand for? What do I stand for?

Most nights, I don't know anymore

Mori drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, watching as Kyoko's lips started forming a smile as well. "You heard this song before?" he asked

Kyoko looked at him, grinning widely. "I have. It's one of my favorite songs by Fun!"

"Well then let's sing along shall we?"

The two sang along, laughing and having a good time. In almost no time they had escaped the small town in Kyoto and were on their way to Tokyo, neither of them realizing how much fun they were having.

"Say Mori-san, I haven't really heard you talk much about your family. You did say you were married right?"

He laughed "Yes, I am married. My wife's name is Emiko, and I have a 5 year old son named Amano. We all live in a nice little house in Tokyo. Emiko and I got married almost 9 years ago. She works as a teacher for preschool students in a nearby school where my son went. It's just so hard to believe that he's finally going into kindergarten. I could've sworn he just turned 3 last year."

Kyoko laughed. It's just like Mori-san to forget how old his son is, she thought to herself. "That's nice, I can't wait to meet them." she said, trying to imagine what they looked like. The only image that came in her head was of Amano, and that was just a smaller version of Mori. She stifled a laugh, catching Mori's attention.

"What's so funny?" He looked at her confused, wondering why she started laughing all of a sudden.

She shook her head, still smiling. "No it's nothing important. I was trying to imagine what your son looked like."

"Oh, if that's all then you should have said so! I have a picture of him in my wallet, I can show it to you if you want."

"No no, I don't want you to get distracted while driving. It is a long drive isn't it? You should stay focused on the road." Kyoko felt like she was imposing on him too much by asking him what his son looked like. He shouldn't feel obligated to show me right away, I'm going to meet them anyway. Besides, driving is much more important, Kyoko decided.

"Well yeah, it is a 6 hour drive but we've been driving for the last hour and a half. See, it's already 9:03. Here, as a compromise I can show it to you at our first pit stop. Do you have to go to the bathroom at all? I was thinking we'd make 1 or 2 stops, and make it back to my house by 2:00 at most. Sound good?"

Kyoko nodded, agreeing with his plan. She smiled to herself, feeling excited. "Oh, I don't have to go to the bathroom, I went before we left. We can stop whenever you want, I don't mind." She paused, looking outside at the speedy cars around them. "This is the first time I've been out of Kyoto. This is really exciting."

It was about 3 hours into the trip, and Kyoko was getting bored. Of course, it was fun in the beginning but after a while the radio stations weren't playing, and they were sitting in comfortable silence. Mori was driving peacefully, and Kyoko decided she wanted to take a look at her surroundings. There wasn't really much to see. After that failure, she tried making shapes out of the clouds. That one looks like a bunny. Oh ,and that one's like a dolphin jumping out of water. And that looks like a chicken leg!

That kept her occupied for about 15 minutes, which is pretty impressive considering she was looking at clouds. She slumped in her seat, blowing a strand of hair out of her face frustratingly.

Suddenly, she heard a thunderous sound, and the car started shaking. Startled, Kyoko jumped from her seat and hit the top of the car with her head, hard. Sitting back down, she held her throbbing head before turning to look at Mori who had a suspiciously guilty face as he watched her. "Sorry, that was my stomach. I think it's about time we stop for lunch, no?"

Kyoko looked at him. She just looked at him, completely amazed at the intense vibrations his stomach created. "H-how did you do it?" she asked, extremely curious of his technique.

"Do what?" he asked slowly, afraid of what she would say.

"How did your stomach command the sky and shake the car? Please tell me, I wanna know how to control thunder too!"

Mori laughed sheepishly, rubbing his hand on the back of his head. "I guess it happens when I'm really hungry. And I can't-" looking at Kyoko's adorable face filled with curiosity, he bit back what he was going to say about controlling thunder. "-explain how my stomach controls thunder. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does most people freak out."

Kyoko looked at him in awe, kindling her new-found respect for the man with supernatural powers to control the skies. Man, I wanna learn how to do that too! She thought to herself, jumping up and down in her seat. They took the next exit and stopped at a family restaurant. When the waiter came to take their order Kyoko and Mori both said "Hamburger steak with egg please."

Looking at each other, they laughed as the waiter wrote down their order. "And what would you like to drink?"

"Just water." Again, they were in sync. The waiter smiled and went to get them some water.

Mori and Kyoko shared a look of amazement. "Wow Kyoko-chan, I didn't think you would be the type to like hamburger steaks. I've always loved them since I was a kid."

Kyoko nodded. "Me neither, I always thought you were too classy for steaks."

They laughed, taking about different foods they liked and didn't like. Mori watched as Kyoko's face lit up at the sight of the waiter coming with their food. He suddenly remembered that he promised to show Kyoko a picture of Amano. "Oh Kyoko-chan, let me show you a picture of my family."

Kyoko must have forgotten as well, smiling enthusiastically as Mori took out the photo. He gave it to her to look at. It was a picture of him, his wife, and their son in the summer, all sitting under a tree with a picnic basket near them. Emiko was a very pretty woman, with reddish-brown hair, brown eyes, and freckles. She was holding a young kid, who Kyoko assumed was Amano. He was smiling, his large golden eyes prominent against his black hair and freckles. "Amano has different colored eyes than you and your wife," Kyoko said. Mori smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, Emiko said her eyes used to be gold when she was a child, but as she grew up they became more of a brown. It's probably the same for Amano. Though, Emiko's dad also has gold eyes and his have always been golden, and my grandmother had golden eyes too. Maybe it's just another family thing."

Kyoko nodded, understanding what he meant. She didn't remember her father or mother having gold eyes either. Mother's eyes were a cold gray and Father had green eyes, she thought. I wonder how I ended up with golden eyes.

They quickly ate their food and took a bathroom break before continuing their road trip to Tokyo. After a while the radio stations started playing some good music, and Kyoko played karaoke with Mori as they sang along to the songs, laughing at each other the entire time. They went on and on talking about random things, from anime to sports teams to rumors that they heard circulating through either the inn or within the halls of studios.

"You know," Mori said, "There was once a rumor that a man in the studio was actually a foreigner who got plastic surgery to run and hide from his stalker-like ex-girlfriend. I didn't believe it of course, it seemed much too far-fetched for it to actually be real. But rumors like that are constantly circling through the industry, especially through the stunt doubles and stagehands that came in contact with bits and pieces of conversations."

"Ooh that reminds me of a nasty rumor that was circling through the school once," Kyoko added, really getting into the conversation. "So there was a girl in our class and she was very weak. I'd often see her coughing and blowing her nose in the class. One day, she was admitted into the hospital and didn't show up to school for an entire month. Someone spread the rumor that she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and after hearing that she would only live for another year she killed herself. When she showed up at school the next month everyone was shocked to see her."

"Oh wow, that is crazy. Was she your friend Kyoko-chan?" Mori asked, trying to engage the conversation.

Kyoko's face darkened a little before she turned to look out the window. "She wasn't my friend, we were in the same class for a year or two. The other girls had enough influence to keep the two of us isolated and away from each other, though it would have been nice to be friends with her." I wish I had talked to Kaori-chan more often. We could have been friends, Kyoko thought sadly.

Mori nodded, understanding her regret. "Well Kyoko-chan, know that you aren't the only one that went through stuff like that. Believe it or not I was actually bullied a lot when I was your age. There was this one girl especially, she wouldn't leave me alone. She did everything, trashing my books, throwing my shoes into the pool, and even blackmailed me. Turns out she just wanted me to be her boyfriend, so we went out once. I did my absolute best to leave a horrible impression on her by puking all over her shoes. That was a very interesting night, now that I think about it." Mori chuckled at the old memory, feeling somewhat nostalgic. Looking at Kyoko, he poked her nose gently, smiling at her. "Never did I expect that I would laugh at that particular memory. Don't forget Kyoko-chan, no matter how bad things get right now, when you grow old like me you'll realize that everything that happened to you shaped your entire being. Those old bullies might not be a very pleasant memory, but they did help a weak boy learn how to fight back." Mori smirked. "Never forget that everything happens for a reason. And you won't ever come across any challenge that you can't beat, alright?"

Kyoko nodded, listening to the older man speak of his past experiences. She looked down at her lap, glad that she had such wonderful people surrounding her.

They sat in silence for a moment, Kyoko deep in her thoughts. Mori looked at the large buildings in the far distance, eyes lighting up in recognition. "Kyoko-chan, look up ahead. There's Tokyo!"

Kyoko straightened her back, looking out the front window at the buildings in the distance. "Wow I can't believe it! Mori-san look that's Tokyo! I've never seen such large buildings before, that's amazing! I wonder if there are any city fairies there. Oh and parks with small streams like a magical little hide away escape to a different world! It's the city so it must be full of magical things right? Ooh this is gonna be so much fun!"

Kyoko kept gushing on and on about how magical the city must be while Mori just listened to her, amused. "Well, we're gonna be at my house in about an hour. We can give you a proper tour after you meet the family."

Kyoko, eyes still sparkling, nodded enthusiastically, jumping up and down while nodding. It looks like she's jumping higher each time she nods, Mori thought, and just as he was about to warn her, they hit a bump in the road and Kyoko's head collided with the ceiling. Again. She held her head in pain for a moment, mentally screaming at herself for being so stupid. Then, she looked outside again and started gushing about the city all over again. Mori smiled at her antics. Emiko is going to love her.

Haha I can totally imagine Arisa being a fangirl about romantic stuff. I mean, I did base her off of me, so it makes sense that she would be so interested in Kyoko's love life. I was thinking about having some more Kyoko-Arisa bonding, but she hasn't spent as much time with Mori compared to the others. Might as well give him a fair chance of getting to know Kyoko too, right?

But yeah, change of plans with where I wanna take the story. Last time I didn't have a plan on what would happen in America, which is why I was stuck for such a long time. This time, I've actually got a plan for what's gonna take place in Tokyo. Rest assured, I probably won't go on another hiatus again! (unless life decides to be a butt again. but we'll deal with that when we get there)

I think out of all my OCs, Mori is definitely my favorite. I don't know why, he's just the most rational out of all three that have been introduced so far (the side characters aren't being counted cuz they don't appear as MCs). He's kinda similar to my father, able to give out good advice when someone needs it yet still hilarious and fun to be around.

Leave a review! Who's your favorite character in What If? I'd love to hear from you guys!

-Momo